LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap... Copyright No, 

ShellLtVll4~ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



METHOD IN 



Grammar and Language. 



BY 

GEO. W. NEET, 



Professor of Pedagogy in the Northern 

Indiana Normal School, 

valparaiso, ind. 



M. E. BOGAETE, PUBLISHER, 

VALPARAISO, INDIANA. 
1900. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

Library of Congretq 
Office of tilt 

MAY 2 - 1900 

Register of Copyrights 



V 



57608 



COPYRIGHT 1900, 
BY GEO. W. NEET. 



StCJND COPY, 



PREFACE. 

This little book on method in grammar and 
language is prompted by a desire to give help to the 
students in the author 's classes in method on these 
subjects. There are many students who appreciate 
that grammar and language are subjects that offer 
many and peculiar difficulties in teaching, and who 
are earnestly seeking for help along the line of a 
better method of teaching these subjects than is com- 
monly in use. To give guidance to these students, 
with whom the writer comes in contact in his^ daily 
teaching is one idea that prompted to the preparation 
of these studies. 

A second thought is, that many fellow teachers 
who see to some extent the natural and most helpful 
way of teaching these subjects, but who have not had 
the time or opportunity to work out in full these ideas 
may receive help and direction from these studies. 

It is the aim of the discussions (1) to investigate 
the theory phase of the method of grammar and 
language lessons; (2) to give a goodly number of 
concrete illustrations of what these lessons should be 
in the light of the theory ; and (3) to criticise existing 
practices in teaching these subjects, which are 



IV. PREFACE. 

thought to be pernicious in their effects. Thus the 
studies are theoretical, practical and critical to a 
greater or less extent. 

While this little volume is arranged with a view 
to use in the writer's own classes in method in gram- 
mar and language, an effort has been made to prevent 
the arrangement from detracting from its useful- 
ness and interest to any one pursuing this line of 
work. 

It is believed that these studies are in harmony 
with the best educational thought of to-day on the 
subjects of grammar and language. 

G. W. N. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

General Method, - - - 9-31 

The Teaching- Act, .... 9 

The Processes in It, - - - 9 

Nature of Method as a Subject, - - 10-11 

Classes of Method, - - - 11 

The Learner's Method, ... 11-13 

The Teacher's Method, - - - 13-20 

Method as a Physical Process, - - 20-25 

Comparison of Teacher's and Pupil's Method, 25-26 

Two Views of Method, ... - 26-28 

No Danger in Too Much Study of Method, - 29-30 

Factors Determining - Method, - - 30-31 

CHAPTER II. 

The Purpose of Grammar, - 32-44 

The Traditional Purpose, ... 32-33 
How Purpose Is to Be Determined, - - 33-34 
Effect of the Study of Grammar on the Learner, 34-35 
Mental Discipline Furnished, - - 35-40 
Knowledge of How to Speak and Write Cor- 
rectly, ----- 40-41 
Its Study Not Adapted to the Child, - 41-42 
The Guidance Grammatical Knowledge Really 

Gives, 42-43 

A Basis for Other Language Work, - 43-44 
CHAPTER III. 

The Subject-matter of Grammar, - 45-55 

The Former View, 45 

The Better View, - 45-47 



VI CONTENTS. 

The Sentence the Subject-matter of Grammar, 48 

As to Nature, 48 

As to Definition, - - - 48-52 

As to Classification, - - - 52-53 

As to Relation, - - - 53-55 
CHAPTER IV. 

The Inductive Method in Grammar, 56-64 

Nature of Inductive Method. - - - 56-57 

The Inductive Method and Definition, - 57-58 

The Mind's Natural Way of Getting Definitions, 58-59 

The Correct Way to Teach Definitions, - 59-60 

Advantages of Inductive Method, - - 60-64 
CHAPTER V. 

Basis in Grammar, - - - 65-70 

Basis for the Sentence as to Nature, - - 65-66 

Principles of Mind Underlying Basis, - 66-68 

Violations of Basis, --'-.- 68-69 

Work in Harmony with Basis, - - 69-70 
CHAPTER VI. 

Steps in Grammar, - 71-80 

Meaning of Steps, - - - - - 71 

Order of Steps, .... 71-73 

Help on the Problem, - - 72-73 

The Mind's Attitude toward the Sentence, 73-74 

Outline, 74-80 

CHAPTER VII. 

Concrete Illustrations, - 81-99 

The Object, - 81-83 

An Attribute, ----- 83-84 

Relation, 84-86 

The Idea, - - 86-87 

The Word, 87-88 

The Thought, 88-90 



CONTENTS. 



VII 



The Sentence, - 


90-91 


Classes of Sentences on Basis of Meaning, 


91-92 


Classes of Sentences on Basis of the Form of 




Thought Expressed, 


92-94 


The Essential Elements of the Sentence, 


95 


Noun and Pronoun, 


95 


The Appositive and Possessive, 


96 


Comparison of Noun and Pronoun, 


96 


Gender, ------ 


- 96-97 


Case, - - - - - 


- 97-99 


CHAPTER VIII. 




Devices in Grammar, 


100-108 


Kinds of Devices, 


100 


Assignments, ... - 


- 100-102 


Class Discussions, 


102-103 


Text-books, 


103-104 


Parsing, -- 


105-106 


Analysis, 


106-107 


Diagraming, 


107-108 


CHAPTER IX. 




Common Errors in Teaching Grammar, 


109-118 


Prevalence of, 


109 


Teaching with Indefinite, Erroneous Pur- 




poses, - - - - - 


109-110 


Bad Methods of Teaching Definitions, 


110-111 


Wrong Use of Text-book, 


111-112 


Emphasizing the Form Side, 


112-113 


Bad Assignments, 


113 


Abuse of Parsing and Diagraming, 


113-114 


Bad Methods of Analyzing, 


114-115 


Method of Expanding, 


115-116 


Attempting to Teach Grammar Too Early 


in 


the Child's Life, 


116 118 



VIII 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Purpose of Language Lessons, 119-127 

Origin of Language as a Subject, - - 119-121 
History of Language Lessons in the Primary 

School, 121-123 

The Purpose of Language Lessons Analyzed, 123-124 

Distinctive Aims of Language Lessons, - 124-126 

Aims in Common with Other Subjects, 126-127 

The Aims of Language and Grammar, - 127 
CHAPTER XL 

Nature of Language Lessons, 128-144 

The Problem, - 128 

How to Get Help on the Problem, - - 128-129 

The Mind's Natural Way of Learning Language, 129-130 

The Language Period, - - 130-133 

Conditions under Which Language Is Used, - 133 

Correlation of School Work with Living, - 134 

Principles of Language Lessons, - - 134-137 

The Subject-matter of Language, - - 137 

Oral and Written Discourse, - 137-138 
Description, Narration, Exposition and 

Argument, - - - 138-141 

Relation of Language to Other Subjects, - 141-144 

Conclusions, .... . ^44 

CHAPTER XII. 

Method of Procedure in Language Teaching, 

145-164 

General Procedure, ... . 145 

Development of Thought and Feeling, 145-149 
Stimulating to the Communication of Thought 

and Feeling, - - - 149-150 

Supplying the Correct Form, - 150-152 

Corrections, - - - 152-154 

Points to Be Kept in Mind, - 154-155 

Concrete Illustrations, - - - 155-163 

The Blue Violet, 155-159 

Indian Corn, - - 159-163 

Common Errors in Teaching Language, - 163-164 

Conclusion, ... . 1^4 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL METHOD. 

The Teaching Act. — The school exists as an organ- 
ization in order that the most favorable conditions 
may be furnished for the act of teaching. It is in 
this act that the mind of the pupil comes into vital 
touch with the mind of the teacher. Here the miracle 
of the influence of one mind upon another is mani- 
fested. Here it is that an all-important duty of the 
teacher is involved. To this process all other pro- 
cesses of the school point. The school finds the idea 
that created it in the process of realization in the 
teaching act. The act of teaching is a process for it 
is a series of steps directed toward the accomplish- 
ment of an end. The teaching act is not a simple 
process for it is a large process made up of smaller 
processes. 

The Processes in It. — A brief analysis of the teach- 
ing act will show that there are three processes going 
on in it, — (1) the thinking the learner is doing; (2) the 
thinking the teacher is doing; (3) a process of hand- 
ling questions, directions, objects, assignments, and 
so on — the manipulation of means in teaching. The 
first two of these processes are spiritual, or mental, 



10 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

processes, and the third is external to the minds of 
both the teacher and the pupil and is a physical pro- 
cess. 

Illustration. — In teaching the definition of a noun 
to a student, first, the student's mind goes through 
the process of thinking (1) that the noun is a sub- 
stantive word; and (2) that it expresses an object by 
naming it. This is the process in the mind of the 
student in the teaching act. Secondly, the teacher 
thinks these same points through with the student, 
but he thinks several other things, too. This is the 
spiritual process of the teacher in the teaching act. 
Thirdly, there is a process of asking questions, an- 
swering questions, illustrating, possibly referring to 
text-books, etc., going on, and this is the physical 
process in the teaching act. 

Nature of Method as a Subject of Study. — The ques- 
tion, What is the subject of method like? is often 

asked. It may be answered in a general way by say- 

» 

ing it is a subject of study the pursuit of which has 
for its special object to make teachers more skillful 
in teaching than they would be without such study. 
But this much might be said of any pedagogical study 
— of psychology, for instance. To be more definite, 
method as a subject is that study which deals with 
the three processes in the act of teaching as indicated 
above. These three processes in their various phases 
constitute the material of all study in the subject of 
method. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 11 

The Subject-matter of Method. — By subject-matter 
is meant the material of study in any subject or 
lesson. It is the thought and feeling embodied in 
any subject or lesson which are to be got from such 
subject or lesson by study. It always consists of 
facts and relations among such facts. So the sub- 
ject-matter of method, as a subject of study, is the 
three processes, one in the mind of the learner, one 
in the mind of the teacher, and one a physical pro- 
cess, in their relation to the growth in the life of the 
learner. 

Definition of Method. — Method is thus seen to be a 
complex and comprehensive thing. Any definition, 
to be perfectly accurate, must include the various 
phases of these three processes. The following, it 
seems, does this: Method is the triple process in the act 
of teaching by which the learner is induced to take the 
steps from his real condition to a higher condition held 
up as an ideal. This is the definition of method con- 
sidered in its broadest and most comprehensive 
sense, and the sense in which its study will give the 
most help to the teacher. 

Classes of Method. — Since there are three pro- 
cesses going on in the teaching act there are, in a 
sense, three methods, — the learner's method, the 
teacher's method, and physical method. These three 
wiU be studied somewhat in detail. 

The Learner's Method. — The learner's method is 
the movement of his mind in gaining any point of 



12 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

knowledge. The pupil's method is thus a living, 
spiritual process internal to his life. Method from 
this point of view is mental growth. That is to say, 
it is the change of potential mental activity into actual 
mental activity, and this is the essence of growth. 

Illustration. — If the child learns in a number 
lesson that 8+7=15, the activity of his mind in 
thinking the following steps is his method: — (1) The 
mind rethinks the number 8; (2) the mind rethinks 
the number 7; (3) the mind thinks the number 8 and 
the number 7 together; (4) the mind thinks the name 
of the new number. These four steps are the mind's 
process in thinking the point of knowledge, and are, 
therefore, the mind's method. This phase of method 
calls attention to the fact that the thing to be watched 
and emphasized in teaching is the change in the 
learner's life by which he is constantly rising to a 
higher plane of living. 

Definition of the Learner's Method. — This phase of 
method may be characterized by the following defini- 
tions : — 

1. Method is the process in the learner's mind 
in thinking a thing. 

2. Method is the movement by which the mind 
of the learner identifies itself with the thought and 
feeling of the external world. The external world 
here means anything external to the mind of the 
learner. 

3. Method is the mental activity in which the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 13 

mind makes the objective the subjective. The object- 
ive means the external world, and the subjective 
means the self. And the self means one's original 
capacity to know, to feel, and to will, plus the effect 
of experiences on this power. 

4. Method is the process by which the mind of 
the learner goes from its real condition to an ideal 
condition. One 's real condition is his condition just 
as he is at any time. His ideal condition is one dif- 
ferent from what he is in at any time, and which 
actually has no existence except as an idea in the 
mind; hence the name ideal. The ideal condition is 
not necessarily a better condition than the real, but 
may be either a better or worse condition. 

The Teachers Method. — The part the teacher per- 
forms in the process of teaching is a very important 
topic of study in the subject of method. This must 
be thoroughly understood by one who is to succeed 
best. To study this is to study the teacher's method. 
And to this we turn. 

First, the teacher must think the thought in the 
point or points to be taught; that is, he must think 
the subject-matter. Secondly, he must see in terms of 
development of the learner's life the reasons for 
teaching the subject-matter; that is, he must see the 
purpose. Thirdly, the teacher must see the nearest 
related knowledge possessed by the learner which he 
can use as a foundation to build upon in teaching the 
new point; that is, he must see the basis. Fourthly, 



14 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the teacher must see the activities the learner's mind 
puts forth in mastering the points of truth in the 
subject-matter; that is, he must see the steps. Lastly, 
the teacher must see the means he may best employ 
in leading the mind of the learner to take the steps in 
mastering the subject-matter; that is, the teacher 
must think out the devices. Thus the teacher in 
teaching a lesson must think (1) the subject-matter; 
(2) the purpose; (3) the basis; (4) the steps; and (5) the 
devices. These five things every teacher does in 
some sort of way in teaching every lesson. Some 
think them out clearly and accurately, and some 
think them oirt scarcely at all, and do not know that 
they do even that much. A teacher can think the 
teaching of a single point, or of a whole lesson, or of 
a whole subject, under these five heads, and must do 
so with more or less accuracy in teaching. It is 
worth our while to study these five points further for 
the help the study will give. 

Subject-matter. — In a general way the subject- 
matter is that which is to be mastered by study. It 
is the thought embodied in the thing studied by the 
mind of the learner. In a particular lesson the sub- 
ject-matter is just that to be got from the lesson 
which the learner should have after the recitation. In 
a particular subject, as grammar or history, the sub- 
ject-matter is just that to be got from the subject 
which the learner should be in possession of after the 
study of the subject. In this general sense the sub- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 15 

ject-matter of education is the whole world of thought. 
This study is too general to be very helpful. A closer 
study will reveal the fact that every subject-matter is 
composed of two things: 1. The facts to be taught 
or to be studied. 2. The relation in which these facts 
are to be taught or studied. 

Illustration. — Suppose the words, inquiry, dis- 
course, and aspirant are to be taught. Now, a spelling 
lesson might be made of it; and if it were a spelling 
lesson, the subject-matter would be, the words, in- 
quiry, discourse, and aspirant, as to their correct 
written or printed forms. Thus the words inquiry, 
discourse, and aspirant are the facts to be taught or 
studied, and "as to their written or printed form" 
indicates the relation in which they are to be taught 
or studied. But these same facts might be used, and 
the lesson not be a spelling lesson at all. If the rela- 
tion they are to be studied or taught in is as to their 
correct pronunciation the lesson would be one in 
orthoepy, and the subject-matter would be, the 
words, inquiry, discourse, and aspirant as to their cor- 
rect pronunciation. 

Further Illustration. — Suppose the facts of the 
revolution of the earth around the sun are taught, 
who can say whether the lesson is one in astronomy 
or one in geography? If, however, these are taught 
in their relation to the distribution of life, climate 
and relief forms on the earth's surface, the lesson at 
once reveals itself as a geography lesson. From 



16 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

these illustrations it is to be seen that a subject- 
matter consists of (1) the facts to be taught or 
studied; and (2) the relation in which these facts are 
to be considered. This relation is often called the 
organising principle of the subject-matter. 

General Statement of Subject-inatter. — The state- 
ment of a subject-matter is not the subject-matter 
any more than a word is an idea, or a sentence a 
thought. The statement of the subject-matter bears 
the same relation to the subject-matter that the word 
bears to the idea and that the sentence bears to the 
thought; that is, the statement bears the same rela- 
tion to the subject-matter that the symbol does to the 
thing symbolized. 

The general statement of a subject-matter is very 
valuable to a teacher, whether it be of a single lesson, 
or of a whole subject. It is helpful to the teacher 
because it must do two things: (1) it must name the 
facts to be taught, and (2) it must tell the relation in 
which these facts are to be taught. Thus the general 
statement of the subject-matter of any subject is a 
perennial guide to the teacher in teaching that sub- 
ject, in that it shows, in a general way, what to teach 
and in what relation (how) to teach it. 

Purpose. — Purpose in reality is beginning and 
end in every process. The purpose as idea — the be- 
ginning — moves forward in the process to its realiza- 
tion — the end. The purpose exists in the teacher's 
mind, but is to be realized in the life of the learner. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. It 

The purpose is the effect the mastery of the subject- 
matter should have on the life of the child. In actual 
teaching the teacher is to go from the subject-matter 
by way of comparison with the effect the thinking the 
subject-matter has on his own mind to its effect on 
the child's life, which is the purpose. That is to say, 
there is no way to tell the purpose of any subject- 
matter except from the effect its mastery produces 
on the child's life. The course of study — the subject- 
matter— is usually provided for the teacher. So the 
teacher must start with the subject-matter and find 
out the purpose in teaching it. Much depends in the 
teaching act upon how well the teacher does this. If 
the teacher has definitely in mind just what he wants 
to do in the lesson he will be drawn steadily and con- 
stantly toward its accomplishment. A definite pur- 
pose saves time, economizes energy, emphasizes the 
important, organizes, and prevents aimless wan- 
dering. 

It will be seen that in teaching any lesson there 
are two phases of the purpose: (1) To give knowledge 
valuable for guidance in living; (2) to give mental dis- 
cipline; that is, to furnish a mental gymnastic to the 
end that the mind may grow strong by exercising it. 

Basis.— This is the learner's nearest related 
knowledge to the new points to be taught, and upon 
which the teacher may build in teaching the new 
point. Basis is an important point in teaching. Many 
errors are made in teaching because the learner has 



18 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

not basis for learning the new point, or because the 
teacher does not see the basis. Teaching in harmony 
with the principle underlying basis, the mind natu- 
rally goes to the unknown from the nearest related knoivn, 
means a progressive development of a subject, each 
step becoming basis for the step succeeding it. There 
are many violations of basis in teaching, as often 
done. 

Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught is that 
5+4 = 9, the child must know the number 5 and the 
number 4 as basis before he could learn that 5+4=9. 
If the teacher should attempt to teach this lesson 
without having taught the numbers 5 and 4 he would 
meet with the difficulty of insufficient basis. Again, 
if a teacher attempts to teach the noun to a class with- 
out the class having a definite knowledge of an object, 
he will most surely meet a difficulty in the basis. The 
teacher to teach well must see and choose definitely 
his basis. 

Steps. — Steps are more or less complete move- 
ments of the mind. They are mental things and in 
the teaching act are in the life of the learner. They 
are the advances of the mind in mastering the sep- 
arate points of the lesson to be learned. Or in a more 
general sense they are the advances of the mind in 
mastering the various phases of a subject. 

Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught were that 
17 — 8 = 9, the steps would be: 1. The advance of the 
mind in rethinking the number 17, 2, The advance of 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 19 

the mind in rethinking the number 8. 3. The ad- 
vance of the mind in thinking the number 8 away 
from 17. 4. The advance of the mind in thinking the 
number 9 as remainder. Again, if the lesson were to 
teach the definition of the triangle, after examining 
several triangles, the steps would be: 1. The advance 
of the mind in thinking that a triangle is a figure. 
2. The advance of the mind in thinking a triangle 
has three sides. 3. The advance of the mind in think- 
ing a triangle has three angles. 4. The advance of 
the mind in synthesizing these points into the defini- 
tion, A triangle is a figure having three sides and three 
angles. 

To know the steps the mind takes in working out 
any new lesson is a matter of much importance to the 
teacher. He must know something of the steps or 
he can not teach at all; and, other things equal, the 
more clearly the teacher has thought the steps, the 
better will he teach the lesson. 

Devices. — The devices are the various things used 
by the teacher to lead the mind of the learner to 
think and feel in the manner desired. A synonym 
for devices is the term means. Devices, or means, 
constitute a very important factor in teaching. There 
is opportunity for the exercise of rare judgment, tact 
and skill in the selection of devices. When it is un- 
derstood that questions, text-books, and reference 
books; maps, globes, and school apparatus in general; 
blocks, sticks, etc., are devices in teaching, some- 



20 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

thing of their importance in school work becomes evi- 
dent. Devices are so important that among many, 
method means nothing more than the manipulation of 
devices. However important they are it must not be 
lost sight of that they are always determined in the 
light of the mental process they are to induce. They 
are means to an end, and in nature the end is always 
more important than the means. 

Method as a Physical Process. — It is, perhaps, us- 
ing the term method in its most popular significance 
to think of it as meaning some physical process ex- 
ternal to the life of the learner. That is to say, it is 
using the term in the sense in which most persons 
commonly use it in speaking and writing. This idea 
of method is the one usually held by persons who 
have not made a careful study of what the term 
really ought to mean. There is a sort of indefinite- 
ness in the minds of most of such persons as to just 
what they do mean by method. However, upon ex- 
amination it will be found usually that the idea that 
method is the manner of doing some physical thing 
prevails, though even this is held in mind more or 
less vaguely. From thinking of method in this sense 
we have the following terms: — "Object Method," 
"Concert Method," "Consecutive Method," "Promis- 
cuous Method," "Catechetic Method," "Lecture 
Method," "Socratic Method," and -" Laboratory 
Method." 

These all refer to the manipulation of objects, 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 21 

questions, and answers in the teaching act, and so 
are to be studied briefly under method as a physical 
process. 

The Object Method. — By this is meant the handling 
of objects by teacher and pupils in the process of 
learning. It is a good line of work, if used judi- 
ciously. It has its proper place in teaching number 
work, primary reading, nature work, primary geog- 
raphy, and primary language. 

The Concert Method. — The concert method means 
having students to answer questions, read, and speak 
simultaneously in the recitation. There is much that 
may be said against concert work, but very little to 
be said for it. It is objectionable because it (1) vio- 
lates the law of self activity; (2) stifles individual 
effort and individual responsibility; (3) does not bring 
out clear, definite answers or thinking; and (4) leads 
to confusion, disorder, and chaotic class work. There 
may possibly be instances in which concert work 
may be used advantageously, but as a rule it should 
be avoided. 

The Consecutive Method. — The consecutive method 
of asking and answering in the recitation means be- 
ginning at some point, the head of the class, or at the 
name beginning with A, and proceeding in some regu- 
lar order back to the point of starting. In proceed- 
ing in recitation this way the students know pretty 
well when the "turn "of each one will come. This 
method, like the preceding one, has many things 



22 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

against it, but little to recommend it. It is objection- 
able because it leads to (1) habits of inattention; 
(2) disorder and disorganization of the class; (3) 
habits of idleness; and (4) bad methods of study. 
However good a student may be, if, when he has an- 
swered a question, he knows to a certainty that he 
wiU not be called upon again for some time, the tend- 
ency is for him to relax his attention. If the student 
is not a good one, the tendency in this kind of work is 
for him to become worse, and since he is not called 
upon to attend closely he is prone to do something 
else, thereby causing disorder and disorganization. 
Idleness in the class is a direct result of inattention, 
and bad habits of study result from the student's be- 
ing able to prepare just those points in the lesson 
which he has reckoned will come to him. 

Promiscuous Work.— The promiscuous method of 
asking questions and receiving answers refers to dis- 
tributing the questions and receiving answers from 
students promiscuously. No student knows to whom 
the answer to the question will fall. This method un- 
like the two preceding has much to be said for it 
and little or nothing against it. It is desirable be- 
cause (1) it fosters habits of attention and concentra- 
tion; (2) it is flexible and gives the teacher the best 
opportunities for meeting the needs of individual stu- 
dents; (3) it fosters habits of order and organization 
in the class work; and (4) it tends to industrious 
habits, and right methods of study. By the use of 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE 23 

the promiscuous method students are held constantly 
to attending to the question under consideration, to 
the careful preparation of the lesson as a whole, and 
to order and unity in the class. As a rule, the pro- 
miscuous method is certainly the best for class work. 

Catechetic Method. — This is, in its original form, 
not much used any more, and so needs very little said 
about it. According to this method the question was 
written in the text-book and just after the question 
was the answer to it. The student's business was to 
read the question, and then commit to memory the 
answer. In the recitation the teacher with text-book 
in hand read the question and the student gave, in 
the words of the text, the answer. Such a manner of 
conducting a recitation has nothing to recommend it 
and so needs no further study. 

Lecture Method. — The lecture method refers to 
teaching by means of talks or lectures. This method, 
perhaps, has its advantages and disadvantages. It 
is certainly not adapted to all kinds of school work, 
and probably not adapted to any kind of school work 
if used exclusively. There are, however, some phases 
of school work which may be profitably taught by 
talks, or lectures. To elementary school work the 
lecture method is not at all adapted, and but very poor- 
ly adapted to secondary school work. In the first eight 
years of the child's school life he must be taught dif- 
ferently than by this method. That stays with the 
child which he has an opportunity to see, hear, and 



24 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

think about. This, however, is not to be construed to 
mean that oral teaching should not be done in primary 
history, primary geography, nature work, etc. If the 
lecture method has any legitimate place in school 
work it is in the college and university. However 
it may seem theoretically, it remains as a fact that 
those things which are digged out by the student, 
recited upon in the class, and discussed by questions 
and answers are the things which in the end stay with 
him and do him good. Certainly the lecture method 
in the average teacher's school work is, to say the 
least, to be used sparingly, and with much caution 
when used at all. 

The Socratic Method. — This method takes its name 
from Socrates a Greek philosopher and teacher born 
469 B. C. It is sometimes called the developing 
method. It proceeds by the employment of subtle 
questions to lead the student to think what it is 
desired for him to think without telling him anything. 
"The Socratic method, more or less perfectly under- 
stood, has had great influence upon professional ped- 
agogy. In many schools for the professional training 
of teachers, and in many schools in charge of teachers 
professionally trained, systematic questioning of this 
sort is looked upon as ideal teaching ; and there is no 
lack of conscientious endeavor to prepare for use in 
recitation, series of questions which shall lead the 
child's mind to take the logical steps which given oc- 
casion requires. One who doubts the value of such 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. *2o 

systematic questioning may usually be converted by 
hearing a single typical recitation conducted by a 
master of the art. The power of such a recitation to 
touch, move, chasten and direct the soul is so evident, 
that if Socrates and Plato had taught us nothing but 
how to do such work their fame as teachers would be 
justified." It is noteworthy that the "Socratic 
Method " is diametrically opposed to the "Lecture 
Method." 

The Laboratory Method. — This is also often called 
the "Scientific Method, " and it means a procedure in 
which the student is lead to investigate and think for 
himself. It is opposed to taking things on mere 
authority without investigation, and to the text-book 
method. It proceeds by leading the student to deal 
with the actual material of study rather than to deal 
with what some one has said about it. In botany, 
studied in this way, the student deals with plants; in 
zoology, with animals; in grammar, with sentences 
and parts of sentences. This method has much to 
recommend it. 1. It fosters habits of free inquiry 
and free investigation. 2. It is the mind's natural 
way of learning. 3. It makes the student self-direct- 
ive and self-helpful. 4. It fixes with the student 
right methods of study. 5. It gives the student a 
critical attitude of mind. All these are very desirable 
characteristics for a student to have. 

Comparison of Teacher's and PujriVs Method. — These 
two methods are alike as follows : 1. They are both 



26 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

spiritual processes. 2. The mind of the learner and 
the mind of the teacher go through the same process 
in thinking the thing to be learned. 3. Both the teacher 
and the pupil keep in mind to some extent the purpose 
of the process in the teaching act. 

These two methods are different as follows : 1. 
The teacher, in addition to thinking the truths to be 
learned, must think the learner's thinking of them. 
2. The teacher must think out the means or devices 
to be used in leading the learner to think the desired 
points of truth. 3. While both the teacher and pupil 
keep in mind the purpose, the teacher sees it defi- 
nitely, or should do so, while the pupil only sees it 
vaguely. The teacher's method thus includes more 
than the learner's. 

Two Views of Method. — The foregoing study sug- 
gests to us that there are two views of method. It is 
unfortunate that educational writers hold these two 
views, as considerable confusion prevails because of 
this fact. One class of educators, those who have 
studied method least, mean by method simply the 
physical process in the act of teaching. A second 
class, those who have been special students of meth- 
od, mean by method the triple process in the act of 
teaching. 

Comparison of the Two Views. — In our study of 
method we may call these two views respectively the 
popular vieiv and the special vieiv. The popular view 
will thus designate method as the manipulation of 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 27 

external means, or devices, and the special view will 
designate method as the triple process. 

Thinking of method according to the popular 
view constantly places the mind's emphasis upon 
something external to the life of the learner. This 
has in the past led to much that was bad in teaching 
and is still doing so. The teacher loses sight thus of 
the fact that it is in the learner 's life that the educat- 
ing process is to be carried on. He is prone to make 
the manipulating, the text-book, or some petty scheme 
of teaching an end instead of a means. Every ques- 
tion that arises concerning teaching must be settled 
in the light of the effect upon the life of the learner. 
The ultimate question is, How does it affect the life of 
the learner? The process in which the mind of the 
learner masters the new point of knowledge is the 
point of prime importance in the teaching act and the 
thing always to be emphasized in the study of the act 
of teaching. The popular view of method leads to 
almost hopeless confusion. Everyone holding this 
view who happens to use some different device, or 
means in teaching calls it his method and gives it a 
name. Since there is an almost infinite number of 
devices which may be used, there thus arises an 
almost infinite number of methods, which no teacher 
can or desires to keep informed upon. This leads to 
a hopelessly chaotic condition of things in the study 
of method. 

The popular view of method has led to much dis- 



28 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE, 

paragement of the study of method among persons 
who should be friendly to its study. These are often- 
times persons who are very good thinkers, but who 
have not given special study to method. It is a com- 
mon remark among this class of teachers that one 
may study method in a subject at the expense of a 
knowledge of that subject. The depreciating remarks 
made about method, which arise from the popular 
view of method, are a source of much harm to the pro- 
fession of teaching. This is true, because many 
persons who would otherwise make a careful study 
of method and would receive the benefit that must 
come to the teacher thereby, are kept from beginning 
the study by this disparaging attitude on the part of 
some teachers. It may be safely said that there is 
need for no one thing among teachers more than an 
intensely professional spirit. It seems strange that 
some teachers take pleasure in saying depreci- 
ating things about method work! It is, however, 
probably to be explained from a misconception of 
method. I have never yet heard the first person 
speak depreciatingly of method, who had been a stu- 
dent of the subject. 

The special view may be proven to be the better 
view. This is the argument : A thing is good accord- 
ingly as it realizes the purpose which brought it into 
existence. Method as a subject came into existence 
to supply the want for something, the study of which 
would help the teacher to do better work in his daily 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 29 

teaching. Accordingly, that thing whose study helps 
the -teacher most is the best. It has already been 
shown that the study of method as a triple process is 
more helpful to the teacher than the study of method 
as the manner of manipulating some external means 
or device. Therefore, the special view is the better 
view of method. 

No Danger in Too Much Study. — It is not difficult 
to see that there is no danger of a teacher 's devoting 
too much time to the study of method when one takes 
the proper view of method. The teacher can not 
study the process through which the mind goes in 
mastering any point of knowledge until he has the 
knowledge himself. For instance, the teacher can 
not see the mental steps the mind of the learner takes 
in learning the definition of an adjective without 
knowing the definition of an adjective himself. To 
know the method in teaching the definition of an adjec- 
tive is to know two things : 1. The definition of an 
adjective. 2. The process the mind naturally em- 
ploys in learning the definition of an adjective. No 
teacher can rationally and well teach the adjective who 
does not know these two things. 

Further Illustration: — In the teaching of history 
this point becomes quite evident. The teacher who 
knows method in history knows these two things : 1. 
The events of mankind in their relation to the strug- 
gle of the race for freedom. That is to say, he must 
know history. 2. The natural processes of the mind 



30 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

in learning history. No teacher can teach history at 
all without a knowledge of the first, and it is equally 
clear -to any person who will think, that no one can 
teach history well without a knowledge of the second. 

So this question reduces itself to the following: 
It is not possible for a teacher to study method too 
much, unless it is possible for a teacher to know too 
much about his subjects and to know too well the 
mind's natural process in learning those subjects. 

Factors Determining Method, — Nearly twenty years 
ago one of our foremost educators said, 'The law in 
the mind and the thought in the thing studied deter- 
mine the method. ' This statement can not well be 
improved upon. And it reveals the two factors which 
determine method. They are (1) the law in the mind; 
(2) the thought in the thing studied. It is to be no- 
ticed that it is the law of the mind; that is, the gener- 
al truths of mental activity — the forms *t>f activity 
common to all minds. Each mind has individual 
traits, but in general, all minds act in the same way. 
The laws of mind are the forms of activity common to 
all minds. Each thing is the embodiment of thought. 
That is to say, each thing expresses thought. Long 
fellow's "Evangeline," the ink-stand, the maple. tree 
is each the embodiment of thought. 

Illustration, — Holding in mind that method is the 
mind's process of learning, we can readily see that 
the process is different in learning things much alike. 
The activity the mind puts forth in learning the def- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 31 

inition for the noun is very different from that put 
forth in getting the thought and feeling from Tenny- 
son's "Bugle Song." One cause of the difference is, 
that there is a great difference in the thought em- 
bodied in the two things. This illustrates that the 
thought in the thing studied is a factor in determining 
the method. Again, a child of six .could not under 
any set of circumstances solve a difficult geometry 
problem because it would violate the laws of his mind. 
He could on the other hand learn that the printed 
word hat represents the idea hat. Thus in this case 
the law of the mind would determine the method. 

This whole study of method should emphasize the 
truth that the essential thing in teaching is opening 
up the way for the realization of the child's inherent 
possibilities. 

"Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise 
From outward things, whate'er you may believe". 
There is an inmost center in us all, 
Where truth abides in fullness, and around, 
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in, 
****** And to know 
Rather consists in opening out a way 
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, 
Than in effecting entry for a light 
Supposed to be without." 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PURPOSE OF GRAMMAR. 

The Traditional Purpose. — There was a time in the 
history of our schools when the course of study con- 
sisted of only spelling, reading, writing, and arith- 
metic. But in the course of time it was felt that the 
children in communicating their thoughts and feel- 
ings did not use as good English as they should. It 
was seen that there was no subject in the school 
curriculum that had as its special object to give the 
children the ability to do this. As this thought and 
feeling grew in the minds of the people, there became 
a real felt-need for some subject in the school curric- 
ulum that would fix with the children the habit of 
using good English in expressing their thoughts and 
feelings. And this is the thing that brought gram- 
mar as a subject into the school curriculum. It was 
thought that if the children knew hoiv to use good En- 
glish, they would do so in speaking and writing. So 
it was said that the purpose of grammar was to teach 
how to speak and write correctly. This was taken to 
mean the same as to give the habit of speaking and 
writing correctly. This idea of the purpose of gram- 
mar was given from one generation to another, and 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 33 

accepted as correct for a long time, and for this rea- 
son is called the traditional purpose of grammar. So 
we now say the traditional purpose of grammar is, 
that its study was to teach how to speak and write 
correctly. For a long time it does not seem to have 
been considered whether the study of grammar had 
more than one purpose; and, of course, it was not 
seen that it has a primary purpose of great impor- 
tance and a secondary purpose of less importance. 

How Purpose Is to Be Determined. — If it is held 
that the purpose of a study is one thing, and the 
study actually accomplishes an entirely different 
thing, there is a contradiction between the purpose 
and the thing accomplished. This being the condition 
of things, people will sooner or later think that the 
purpose is not what it has been held to be. And if 
the thing actually accomplished is a worthy thing, it 
will come to be regarded as the purpose of the study 
of a subject. This gives the key to the only way that 
we have of determining the purpose of any subject in 
the school curriculum. It may be stated thus : the 
purpose of any subject in the school curriculum is 
determined from the effect the pursuit of that subject 
produces on the life of the one studying it. This is 
true of any lesson. 

Illustration. — If we study as a lesson the follow- 
ing, from Browning, we will get the thought that 
progress is the characteristic which distinguishes 
man from God on one band, and from the beasts on 



34 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the other. So if we seek the purpose of the selection, 
we determine it from the effect on our lives, and say 
its main purpose is to set before us the thought that 
progress distinguishes man from both God and the 
beasts. 

" Progress, man's distinctive mark alone, 

Not God's, and not the beasts'; God is, they are, 

Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be." 

The Real Purpose of Grammar. — It will be remem- 
bered from our previous study that the pursuit of any 
subject gives two things, — knowledge and discipline. 
Then the .pursuit of grammar will give these two 
things, and in general will have these two purposes. 
That is to say, grammar has a disciplinary purpose 
and a knowledge-giving purpose. The question im- 
mediately suggests itself whether the disciplinary or 
knowledge-giving purpose is the more important. 
Keeping in mind how the purpose of any school sub- 
ject is to be determined, let us study the question. 

Effect of the Study of Grammar on the Learner. — The 
study of grammar does the three following things for 
the one who pursues such study : 1. It gives excellent 
mental discipline. 2. It gives knowledge, to some ex- 
tent, as to how to speak and write correctly. 3. It 
gives knowledge which forms a basis for other work 
in language subjects. The extent to which the study 
of grammar does these three things respectively must 
be taken into consideration, as well as the value to be 
derived from each one, in a systematic study of the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 35 

effect of studying grammar on the life of the learner. 
We will study each one in turn. 

Mental Discipline Furnished by the Study of Gram- 
mar. — Mental discipline is mental exercise in think- 
ing, feeling, and willing, to the end of (1) becoming a 
clear, ready, and accurate thinker; (2) developing a 
love for truth, beauty and righteousness ; (3) giving 
habits of self-control and self-direction. Mental dis- 
cipline is based upon the principle that the mind 
learns to do by doing. So the question for study 
here is, What does the mind get exercise in, in study- 
ing grammar? To answer this leads us into the 
study of three psychological questions, — conception, 
judgment and reasoning. 

Conception. — Our ideas of the various things ex- 
pressed by common nouns are our concepts of these 
things. Thus the words tree, barn, boy, flower, and 
bird express concepts. These words each symbolize 
the attributes common to all the objects which each 
names. That is to say, each word names a class. 
The terms concept, general idea, and general notion all 
mean the same thing. Now, conception is the mind's 
process of forming a general idea, or concept, or gen- 
eral notion. And a general idea is an idea appropriate 
to the common attributes of a class of objects. The 
following is the definition for conception : Conception 
is the mind's process of forming an idea appropriate to a 
class of objects. 

The Mind's Natural Way of Getting Its General 



6b METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

Ideas. — The mind naturally gets its general ideas 
from the study of particulars. Suppose the first 
barn a child sees is a square one painted red, with a 
roof sloping one way, containing only hay and corn. 
From this particular the child's idea of a barn will 
contain square form, red color, this particular kind of 
roof and filled with hay and corn. Say the next barn 
has all these attributes but square form. From the 
study of these two particulars, his idea of a barn will 
contain red color, roof sloping one way, filled with hay 
and corn. To be brief, the child from the study of 
particulars goes on correcting his idea of a barn by 
dropping out elements, and possibly adding some, 
until just those attributes remain which are possessed 
in common by barns. This is the way the mind 
naturally gets its concepts in life. When it examines 
the first particular, it forms a tentative, or trial, con- 
cept. But it goes on and examines other particulars 
to correct this tentative concept. It must be noted 
carefully that the mind naturally examines the real, 
particular objects of which it forms its concepts. 

The logical steps in an act of conception are the 
following : — 

1. The mind acts an activity appropriate to a 
particular object by thinking its attributes. 

2. The mind repeats the process with other ob- 
jects. 

3. The mind compares and contrasts these ob- 
jects. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 37 

4. The mind abstracts by holding in conscious- 
ness the common attributes and dropping from con- 
sciousness more or less the others. 

5. The mind generalizes by extending the com- 
mon attributes of the particulars studied to all the 
objects of the class. 

6. The mind thinks the name of the class. 

The first two steps are often put together, thus 
making five steps, and they are called (1) the exami- 
nation of particulars; (2) comparison and contrast; 
(3) abstraction ; (4) generalization; and (5) denomina- 
tion. 

Judgment. — The concept is expressed by the com- 
mon noun, and in a similar way the judgment is ex- 
pressed by the sentence. We are in the habit of 
saying the sentence expresses the thought, and it is 
right to do so, for the judgment and. the thought mean 
the same thing. 

The mind at some time in its past experience got 
the idea trees; also, the idea grow. Now it grasps the 
relation between these two ideas and asserts it, and 
thinks trees grow. When the mind does this it is 
judging, and the result of judging is the judgment. 
Note that in judging there are three activities in- 
volved : 1. The mind reacts the old idea trees. 2. The 
mind reacts the old idea grow. 3. The mind thinks 
the relation between them. The following is the 
definition for judgment : A judgment is the mental prod- 
uct which the mind reaches by asserting the relation be- 
tween two ideas. 



38 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

Reasoning. — In judging* the mind grasps the rela- 
tion between ideas, and in reasoning it in a somewhat 
similar manner grasps the relation among judgments. 
But in reasoning there are three judgments involved, 
and they are so related that the last one is reached 
because of its relation to the other two. The follow- 
ing illustrates it : 

Animals have voluntary motion. 

This object is an animal. 

This object has voluntary motion. 

The sentence, or proposition, "Animals have vol- 
untary motion," expresses one judgment, or thought; 
the sentence, or proposition, "This object is an 
animal," expresses another judgment, or thought; 
and the mind reaches the judgment, or thought, ex- 
pressed by the sentence, or proposition, "This object 
has voluntary motion," because of its relation to the 
preceding judgments. From the above study we get 
the following definition for reasoning : Reasoning is 
the mind's 'process of reaching a judgment because of its 
relation to two preceding judgments. 

On the basis of the order of the judgments in the 
mind, there are three classes of reasoning, — deduc- 
tion, identification, and induction. The following will 
illustrate it. 

I. 

Expression Animals have voluntary motion, 
of This object is an animal. 

Deduction. This object has voluntary motion. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 39 
II. 

Expression Animals have voluntary motion, 
of This object has voluntary motion. 

Identification. This object is an animal. 
III. 

Expression This object is an animal. 

of This object has voluntary motion. 

Induction. Animals have voluntary motion. 

In logic the three propositions which express a 
complete act of reasoning are collectively called the 
syllogism, and the first two are called the premises, 
and the third is called the conclusion. Thus it may 
be said that the syllogism is the expression of a com- 
plete act of reasoning, consisting of three proposi- 
tions, the first two being the premises and the last 
the conclusion. These three propositions arranged 
as in "I " above are called the first figure of the syllo- 
gism ; if arranged as in "II "above they are called the 
second figure of the syllogism ; and if arranged as in 
"III" above they form the third figure of the syllo- 
gism. 

Thus the first figure of the syllogism expresses, 
or symbolizes, deductive reasoning ; the second figure 
symbolizes identification ; and the third figure symbol- 
izes induction. 

The mind's ability to think readily, and accu- 
rately sums itself up in its ability to form accurate 
concepts, make correct judgments, and reason readily 
and logically. Now all definition making in grammar, 



40 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

if correctly done, is among the very best of exercises 
in forming accurate concepts, and in making correct 
judgments. Definition making gives excellent exer- 
cise in inductive reasoning ; and all parsing and ana- 
lyzing employs identifying reasoning. These activi- 
ties are accompanied with the feelings which always 
accompany clear, accurate, logical thinking. These 
are feelings of energy, triumph, and exaltation as well- 
as a love for the beauty of the sentence. Now no 
subject in the school curriculum is better adapted to 
give discipline in these mental processes than gram- 
mar. Thus the disciplinary phase of the purpose of 
grammar stands out as very important. 

Knowledge of Hoiv to Speak and Write Correctly. — 
That it is the purpose of grammar to furnish knowl- 
edge which will be valuable for guidance in speaking 
and writing no one will deny. But that the knowl- 
edge gained by studying grammar is so valuable as 
has been thought may well be questioned. Just what 
knowledge do all the definition making, parsing, and 
analyzing done in grammar give that will guide one in 
using correct language ? We are compelled to answer 
very little. But granting that various phases of the 
study of grammar do give knowledge of this kind it 
still remains to be seen : (1) just what this knowledge 
is ; (2) whether the study which gives this knowledge 
is adapted to the life of the child when he is forming 
his language habits ; (3) whether, having such knowl- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 41 

edge, it does actually guide to any great extent in 
using good English. 

Just What the Knowledge Is.- — When one attempts 
to enumerate here, he finds not so much to enumer- 
ate as he at first thought. But the following may be 
named : 

1. A verb must agree with its subject in person 
and number. 

2. The right case forms must be used for nouns 
and pronouns in the various cases. 

3. The right number forms must be used for 
substantives in various numbers. 

4. The correct gender and person forms must 
be used when the substantives have various genders 
and persons. 

5. The correct principal parts of verbs must be 
used when the verb is in its various tenses, modes, 
and voices. 

These five general principles cover most of the 
grammatical knowledge that guides in using good 
English, and what they do not cover is of the same 
general character. 

Its Study Not Adapted to the Child. — A study of 
child nature reveals the fact to us that there is a lan- 
guage period in the life of the child when he learns 
language as naturally as he learns to walk; also, that if 
the child does not learn to use fairly good language in 
this period he either never will or wiU do so at great 
cost and with much difficulty. Now this language 



42 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

period in the child's life is between the ages of two 
and fourteen. 

The question now arises whether the study re- 
quired to learn those points of grammatical knowledge 
claimed to guide in using good English is suitable for 
children in the language period. No one who under- 
stands how hard a subject grammar really is will 
answer in the affirmative. No subject in the school 
course requires closer analyzing, judging, and reason- 
ing than grammar. No subject, not even psychology 
or geometry, in the school curriculum is more diffi- 
cult. 

The Guidance Grammatical Knowledge Really Gives. 
— If to know how to speak and write correctly and to 
have the habit of speaking and writing correctly were 
the same thing, the purpose of grammar teaching in 
school would certainly be different. We all know they 
are widely different things. To know grammatical 
principles is no guarantee that one will habitually use 
good English. A friend who is an excellent gram- 
marian, and who knows what good English is, makes 
many common errors in speaking and writing. It is 
unnatural to learn rules and then form one's English 
in the light of these rules. The language was first 
and the rules have been derived from the language. 
One's habits are formed in language before he has 
reached a period of development sufficient to study, 
with any degree of success, grammar. The most 
that can be expected of grammatical knowledge in 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 43 

the way of guidance is of a negative character. It 
shows us some things to avoid. As a matter of fact 
though, under a tension of thought and feeling we 
usually forget these negative precepts and conform 
to old habits. Then again, grammar deals only with 
correctness in the sentence. Now, correctness is 
only one element of good English. Good English has 
as its characteristics correctness, clearness, elegance, 
and energy. 

Thus our study shows grammatical knowledge 
to be of much less value for guidance in the use of 
good English than is usually supposed. 

A Basis for Other Language Work. — All can see 
that the study of grammar gives knowledge that 
makes a good basis upon which to build in teach- 
ing rhetoric, literature, German, Latin, Greek, 
French, etc. This seems an important part of the 
knowledge-giving purpose of grammar. Our study 
shows, I think, that this phase of the knowledge-giving 
purpose is much more important than the phase of 
giving knowledge for guidance in speaking and 
writing. 

Summary. — Our study leads to the conclusion 
that the primary purpose of the study of grammar is 
the excellent mental discipline its study furnishes; 
and that of the secondary purposes, the acquirement 
of knowledge for a basis in other language teaching 
is the more important, while least important of all is 



44 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the acquirement of knowledge for guidance in speak- 
ing and writing. 

Professor W. D. Whitney says: "That the leading- 
object of the study of English grammar is to teach 
the correct use of English is, in my view, an error, 
and one which is gradually becoming removed, giving 
way to the sounder opinion that grammar is the re- 
flective study of language, for a variety of purposes, 
of which correctness in writing is only one, and a 
secondary or subordinate one — by no means unim- 
portant, but best attained when sought indirectly. 
It should be a pervading element in the whole school 
and home training of the young, to make them use 
their own tongue with accuracy and force, and along 
with any special drilling directed to this end, some 
of the rudimentary distinctions and rules of grammar 
are conveniently taught; but this is not the study of 
grammar, and it will not bear the intrusion of .much 
formal grammar without being spoiled for its own 
ends. It is constant use and practice, under never- 
failing watch and correction, that makes good writers 
and speakers; the application of direct authority is 
the most efficient corrective. Grammar has its part 
to contribute, but rather in the higher than in the 
lower stages of the work. One must be a somewhat 
reflective user of language to amend even here and 
there a point by grammatical reasons; and no one 
ever changed from a bad speaker to a good one by 
applying the rules of grammar to what he said. " 



CHAPTER III. 
THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF GRAMMAR. 

The FormerView. — There was a time when it was 
thought that grammar was a subject so broad that 
it included almost any phase of work which dealt with 
language. As such, grammar was said to be divided 
into orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody . And 
following up the same line of thought orthography 
was said to treat of sounds, letters, syllables, and 
spelling. Such a view of grammar lacks definiteness. 
It is so general that it gives the teacher no help. A 
teacher who holds such a view of grammar can do 
almost anything with language and justify it as gram- 
mar work. Seeing this trouble, good thinkers on this 
subject began to analyze this general notion. As a 
result of this study they are pretty generally agreed 
that grammar deals only with the sentence as a unit, 
rather than with language as a whole. The following 
study will show the thought here. 

The Better View. — There are three language units, 
— the word, the sentence, and discourse. These are 
three wholes of which all language is made up, and so 
they are called the language units. There are some 
subjects which deal with the word as their language 



46 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 



unit. These subjects are called word-studies. They 
are orthography, orthoepy, etymology, and lexicology. 
There is but one subject which deals with the sen- 
tence as its language unit. This subject is grammar. 
In our language studies, discourse as a finished prod- 
uct is dealt with in the pursuit of some subjects, 
while in other subjects discourse in the process of 
making is dealt with. ''Miles Standish, " "The Bare- 
foot Boy, " "The Discontented Pendulum," or any 
other selections in our readers, or any other pieces of 
literature, are discourse as a finished product. When 
one is speaking, or writing a letter, or an essay, he is 
making discourse, and it thus is discourse in the pro- 
cess of making. Reading, literature, and rhetoric as 
the science of discourse deal with discourse as a 
finished product as their language unit. Primary 
language, and composition deal with discourse in the 
process of making as their language unit. 

The following diagram will reveal the relation 
among the group of subjects called language sub- 
jects, or the language group. 



( Orthography. 

word - 1 ° rthoe py- 

wom 1 Etymology. 
[Lexicology. 

Sentence - Grammar. 



Language 
Units. 



Discourse 



1 

f As a finished 
product. 

In the process 
of making. 



| Reading. 

I Literature. 

j Rhetoric as the 

1 science of discourse. 

{ Language 

\ lessons. 

[ Composition. 



i METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. At 

At first sight it might seem that grammar deals 
with the word as its language unit. A little study 
will show, however, that while words are studied in 
gram mar, they are always studied in relation to the 
sentence as the whole thing. An isolated word can 
have no grammatical meaning. It can only be 
studied grammatically when used in the sentence. 

Purpose of Language. — What is the work the word, 
the sentence, and the thought have to do? That is to 
say, What is the purpose of language? We can help 
ourselves in the study of this question by investigat- 
ing the birth of language. And this investigation 
shows us that the instinct in humanity to communi- 
cate experience gave birth to language. When a 
human being has an experience he wishes to arouse a 
similar experience in some other human being. Now, 
there is no way to communicate an experience except 
by some physical medium, and language came into 
existence as this physical medium. Thus language 
was born of a felt-need for some physical medium to 
communicate thought and feeling. A word was born 
of a desire to communicate an idea. A sentence was 
born of a desire to communicate a thought. Dis- 
course was born of a desire to communicate related 
thoughts. 

It is the purpose of everything to realize the idea 
that created it, and we call it good just to the extent 
it does realize this idea. Then the whole purpose of 
language is to communicate thought and feeling. 



48 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

The Sentence the Subject- matter of Grammar. — From 
our study so far we are led to the conclusion that the 
sentence as a medium for communicating thought is the 
subject-matter of grammar. This is, in general, a true 
statement for the subject-matter of grammar, and the 
one held at present by the best thinkers on this sub- 
ject. However, we can help ourselves further here 
by seeing just what we do when we study the sen- 
tence as a medium for communicating thought and feel- 
ing. So to look at it from this view-point, it may be 
said that the subject-matter of grammar is the sen- 
tence, as a whole and in its parts, as to nature, defini- 
tion, classification, and relations. That is to say, we 
study the sentence as a whole in grammar, and we 
study its parts, each as to its nature, definition, 
classification, and relations. 

As to Nature. — Nature means according to the 
way a thing is born. So to study the nature of the 
sentence, or any class of sentences, or any part, or 
class of parts is to investigate how it came to be. It 
is to study the idea that created it. 

And since all language is born of a desire to com- 
municate thought and feeling, studying the nature of 
the various things in grammar means to seek in the 
thought behind the language form, the reason for this 
form. And this is a vital point in all (/ram mar teaching. 

Definition. — The popular notion is that definition 
is some sort of formal statement, either oral or writ- 
ten ; but this idea is a superficial one, and one produc- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 49 

tive of much bad work in grammar teaching. Defini- 
tion is in its essential nature a mental process and as 
such should be perfectly understood by every gram- 
mar teacher. "Definitions are usually treated as 
mere formal statements to be recited and lodged away 
in memory, rather than thought processes in funda- 
mental forms of mental activity." 

An examination of how the mind naturally forms 
a definition will reveal the nature of the process. If 
the thing to be defined is the triangle, the mind will 
naturally examine a particular triangle, noting 
several of its attributes; then, it will examine a 
second triangle, noting several of its attributes ; then, 
a third ; then, a number sufficient to itself. It com- 
pares these various triangles, and selects the attri- 
butes possessed in common by each triangle. It 
finds they are these: — 1. It is a figure. 2. It has 
three sides. 3. It has three angles. The mind now 
puts together, or synthesizes, the truths common to 
triangles, in the form of a thought, and thinks the 
following: A triangle is a figure having three sides and 
three angles. But this examining triangles, and the 
mind's process of putting together these common 
truths of triangles in the form of a thought is defining. 
It will be remembered that in the general idea, 
or concept, triangle we found that there were the 
same three common truths indicated above. So we 
are now in a position to give the following statement 
for definition : Definition is the mind's process of syn- 



50 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

thesizing the common elements of a general idea, or a con- 
cept, in the form of a thought. 

Illustration. — The mind examines several particu- 
lar nouns in sentences and sees that each one (1) is a 
substantive word ; (2) expresses an object by naming 
it. Then the mind puts together, or synthesizes, 
these two truths of nouns as follows : A noun is a 
substantive word which expresses an object by nam- 
ing it. But this defines the noun. 

Steps in Definition. — In synthesizing the common 
elements in a general idea in the form of a thought, 
that is, in defining, the mind takes the following 
steps : — 

1. The mind thinks the name of the thing to be 
defined. 

2. The mind puts the thing to be defined in the 
first known class larger than itself. 

3. The mind sets the thing to be defined off from 
all other things of that class. 

Illustration. — In the definition for the sentence, 
"The sentence is that language unit which expresses 
a thought," "The sentence" names what is to be 
defined; "is that language unit " puts the thing to be 
defined into the class language units: and "which ex- 
presses a thought "sets the thing to be defined off 
from the other things of the class, the word and 
discourse. 

And again we find the same three steps in the 
definition of the noun : A noun is a substantive word 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 51 

which names its object. "A noun" expresses the 
first step; "is a substantive word "is the second step, 
and "which names its object" sets the noun off from 
the other substantive word, the pronoun. 

What is Defined. — In grammar the thing defined 
is always a class. When the mind defines the adjec- 
tive or pronoun, the definition is not for some partic- 
ular adjective or pronoun, but it is for the class adjec- 
tive or for the class pronoun. So a definition must 
include all particulars of the class defined. That is 
to say, it must be inclusive. Also, a definition must 
exclude everything except the particulars of the class 
defined. That is to say, it must be exclusive. 

Errors in Definitions. — The most common errors 
in definition are (1) they are untruthful in part or 
wholly; (2) they are not helpful; (3) they are not inclu- 
sive; (4) they are not exclusive. The following is un- 
truthful : The predicate of a sentence is that which 
is asserted of the subject. Neither of the following 
definitions is helpful: "An adjective is a word that 
lessens the extensiveness but increases the compre- 
hensiveness of a substantive word. " "A noun is the 
name of an object. ' ' The latter is an example of what 
is called defining in a circle. This definition of an 
adjective is one that is neither inclusive nor ex- 
clusive: "An adjective is a word which modifies a 
noun." It includes nouns and pronouns in the pos- 
sessive case, and appositives; and it excludes adjec- 
tives which modify pronouns. 



52 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

Definition, Synonym and Description. — A clear dis- 
tinction is to be made between a definition and a 
synonym ; also, between a definition and a description. 
A synonym is a word which has the same or very 
nearly the same signification as some other word, 
while a definition as used here is a sentence which 
expresses the mind's process in synthesizing the 
common elements in a general idea. A definition is 
to be distinguished from a description in that a de- 
scription sets forth the attributes of a particular ob- 
ject, while definition sets forth the common attributes 
of a class of objects. 

Importance to Teacher of Understanding Definition. 
— The teacher who well understands the mind's pro- 
cess of definition will thereby become self -helpful and 
self- directive in definition making. He will be able 
to free himself from the text-book, rise above it, and 
criticise it. He will have confidence in his own ability 
and will depend upon the integrity of his own thought. 
He will thus become an independent and ready 
thinker. And his students will thus be affected in 
these ways by his teaching. 

Classification, — By classification is meant separat- 
ing and unifying objects in the light of some common 
truths. The mind classifies in order to help itself by 
saving time and energy in thinking the world of ob- 
jects. Thus if there are 100,000 nouns in English, 
and the common truths of nouns are (1) they are 
words ; (2) they express objects ; (3) they name their 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. o3 

objects, to know their essential nature without think- 
ing them as a class, the mind must think 300,000 
things. But if the mind thinks them as a class, it 
must first think the three things true of all nouns, 
then think that each one of the particulars is a noun, 
making in all 100,003 things. Therefore, by thinking 
the noun as a class the mind has saved the time and 
energy required to think 199,997 things. 

The common truth or truths according to which 
objects are classified are called the basis of classifica- 
tion. So in asking for classes the basis must always 
be given. To ask the question, What are the classes 
of verbs ? is too indefinite. There are many mistakes 
made in grammar on this point. 

Relation. — By relation is meant the connection 
the mind makes among objects because of their like- 
ness. Thus in grammar there is relation between 
the noun and the pronoun ; between the adjective and 
the adverb; between the relative pronoun and the 
conjunctive adverb ; between the conjunction and the 
relative pronoun, etc. 

One phase of relation very helpful to work in 
grammar is comparison and contrast. Thus after the 
noun and pronoun have been studied nothing is more 
helpful than to ask students to compare and contrast 
them . 

Illustration. — In order to compare and contrast 
two grammatical terms well a systematic plan must 
be followed. A little thought here will show that 



54 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

grammatical terms may be alike and different as 
follows : 

1. As to essential ideas. 

2. As to grammatical use in the sentence. 

3. As to modifiers they may take. 

Some terms may have other points of likeness 
and difference, but these are the essential ones. 
These are all evident as to meaning unless it be the 
first. Essential ideas are those common truths that 
make up the definition of anything. Thus the essen- 
tial ideas of a triangle are (1) it is a figure; (2) it has 
three sides ; and (3) it has three angles. 

Comparison and Contrast of Noun and Pronoun. — 
As to essential ideas. 
Likeness. 

1. They are both substantive words. 
Difference. 

1. The noun names its object, but the 
pronoun does not name its object. 
As to use in the sentence. 
Likeness. 

1. They may both be used as subject, 
predicate, direct object, indirect object, possessive, 
appositive, adverbially, absolutely, independently, 
and as the principal term of a prepositional phrase. 
Difference. 
None. 
As to modifiers they may take. 
Likeness. 



METHOD IN LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR. 55 

1. They -may both take the adjective and 
appositive modifier. 
Difference. 

1. The noun takes the possessive modi- 
fier, but the pronoun does not. 

No lesson on the noun and pronoun will acquaint 
the student with the exact status of his knowledge 
of them better than such a one as this. It also makes 
the very best kind of review. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE INDUCTIVE METHOD IN GRAMMAR. 

Nature of Inductive Method. — The inductive method 
was discussed to some extent in chapter I of these 
studies under the title of the "Laboratory, or Scien- 
tific, " method. It is a procedure in which the pupil 
is led to observe, investigate and think for himself. 
It is opposed to taking things on mere authority in 
all cases where the pupil can investigate, and do 
original thinking. It is diametrically opposed to what 
is called the text-book method in teaching. By the 
inductive method the student deals with the actual 
material of study rather than with what some one has 
said about it. In studying botany by the inductive 
method, the pupil deals with plants ; in studying zool- 
ogy, with animals; in studying chemistry, with chem- 
icals ; in studying grammar, with sentences and parts 
of sentences. 

As the inductive method, it gets its name from 
the mental process of induction, or inductive reasoning. 
This, also studied in a previous chapter, is the mind's 
process in going from the examination of particular 
objects to some general truth. It begins by study- 
ing particulars and ends by reaching a judgment 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 57 

whose subject is an idea of a class and whose predi- 
cate is an idea of some truth asserted of the class. 

Illustration.- — Five nouns have been examined, and 
each has been found to be a substantive word which 
names its object. So the mind reasons this way :— 

These things are all nouns. 

These things are all substantive words which 
name their objects. 

Therefore, nouns are substantive words which 
name their objects. 

It is to be noted here that the mind starts by 
studying particulars and from this study reaches a 
truth about the class, nouns. This truth is, that 
they are all substantive words which name their objects. 

The Inductive Method and Definition. — Definition in 
several of its phases was studied in the last chapter, 
and keeping in mind what was learned there, we will 
be able to push the study further here in connection 
with the inductive method. In all definition the mind 
naturally employs the inductive method. That is to 
say, it employs inductive reasoning. 

Illustration. — The mind starts out to define the 
sentence, and studies sentences, one, two, three, four, 
five, and six, seeing that each of them is a language 
unit which expresses a thought. It then thinks the 
definition, — A sentence is a language unit which expresses 
a thought. But a study of this process will show that 
there are here to be found six processes of inductive 
reasoning. When the mind examines the first sen- 



58 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

tence it reasons thus : This is a sentence; this is a 
language unit which expresses a thought ; therefore, 
the sentence (so far as seen) is a language unit which 
expresses a thought. 

This process is repeated with each particular, 
the mind becoming firmer in its belief all the time 
that it was right at first. These processes are each 
induction, in the main, though deduction is involved. 

The Mind's Natural Way of Getting Definitions.— 
From our study of definition, conception, and the in- 
ductive method, it ought not to be difficult to see that 
the mind 's natural way of getting definitions is by the 
inductive method when it is at all possible -to get the 
particular things to study. We may systematize this 
by saying the mind's natural way of getting defini- 
tions is by : 

1. Studying particulars of the class to be defined. 

2. Selecting out the common truths of these par- 
ticulars. 

3. Synthesizing these common truths in the form 
of a thought. 

The one and only legitimate objection which can 
be urged against leading children to form their own 
definitions in this way from the study of particular 
cases is that in some subjects the particulars can not 
be had for study. But this can not be urged in the 
study of grammar, for the particulars to be studied 
are sentences and parts of sentences. The material 
is omnipresent. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 59 

The Correct Way to Teach Definition. — If the mind's 
natural way of getting definitions is a guide as to the 
method of teaching definitions, all definitions in gram- 
mar must be taught by the inductive method. That 
is to say, particular cases of the thing to be studied 
are placed before the pupil. He is led by questions 
to discover for himself the truths common to the par- 
ticular cases, and is asked to state them as essential 
ideas. And as the last step in the process he is asked 
to synthesize these common truths in the form of a 
thought ; that is, he is asked to define. 

Illustration,. — Subject of the lesson is the noun and 
pronoun. The children have previously studied the 
classes of words on the basis of what they express 
and know well the meaning of substantive word. They 
also know what it means to name anything. 

1. That rose is very beautiful. 

2. The oriole builds a hanging nest. 

3. One should cultivate a love for beauty. 

4. John is an industrious boy. 

5. William was rewarded for his industry. 

6. He is known to be honest. 

7. / gave it to him. 

What do the italicized words in the above sen- 
tences express? On the basis of what they express 
what kind of words are they? How do those in the 
first five sentences differ from those in sentences 6 
and 7? Those in the first five, grammarians call 
nouns and those in 6 and 7 they call pronouns. How 



60 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

does the noun differ from the pronoun? Give the 
essential ideas of the noun ; also, of the pronoun. ' 
Define the noun ; also, the pronoun. Answers : The 
italicized words express ideas of objects. They 
are substantive words. Those in the first five name 
their objects, while those in 6 and 7 do not. The noun 
names an object, while the pronoun does not. The 
essential ideas of the noun are, (1) the noun is a sub- 
stantive word ; (2) it names its object. The essential 
ideas of the pronoun are, (1) the pronoun is a substan- 
tive word ; (2) it does not name its object. The noun 
is a substantive word which names its object. The pro- 
noun is a substantive word which does not name its object. 
Comparison of Two Ways.— Definition is often 
taught in grammar by assigning as a lesson formal 
statements of definitions to be learned from a text- 
book and committed to memory. This way consists 
simply in memorizing what some one has worked out 
in the subject. It makes the student dependent, and 
helpless, and gives him an undue respect for the text- 
book. He comes to think that the subject is found 
between the lids of the book. He gets an attitude of 
mind which causes him to accept it because the book 
says so. This way of learning definitions lacks in- 
herent interest, is unnatural, and often is nothing 
more than the verbal memory of meaningless terms. 
It is always liable to this abuse, and, in fact, it can 
scarcely be avoided. It cultivates memory, but the 
kind of memory that breaks down ability to think 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 61 

logically. It produces the appearance of understand- 
ing without the reality. Herbert Spencer says on 
this point : ''To give the net product of inquiry, with- 
out the inquiry that leads to it, is found to be both 
enervating and inefficient. General truths to be of 
due and permanent use, must be earned. 'Easy come 
easy go, ' is a saying as applicable to knowledge as to 
wealth. While rules (definitions), lying isolated in the 
mind — not joined to its other contents as outgrowths 
from them— are continually forgotten, the principles 
which those rules express piece-meal, become, when 
once reached by the understanding, enduring posses- 
sions. While the rule-taught youth is at sea when be- 
yond his rules, the youth instructed in principles 
solves a new case as readily as an old one. Between 
a mind of rules and a mind of principles, there exists 
a difference such as that between a confused heap of 
materials, and the same materials organized into a 
complete whole, with all its parts bound together. " 
Advantages of Inductive Method — The advantages 
of the inductive method in grammar are many. The 
following are some of them :— 1. It is the natural 
way of learning grammar. 2. It makes students in- 
dependent and self-helpful. 3. It gives students the 
habit of free inquiry and free investigation. 4. It 
establishes a critical attitude of mind. 5. It makes 
grammar a subject full of interest. 6. It makes 
grammar a subject not excelled by any in giving men- 
tal discipline in ; 



62 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

1. Accurate observation. 

2. Comparison and contrast. 

3. Abstraction. 

4. Generalization. 

5. Inductive reasoning. 

6. Identification. 

7. Deductive reasoning. 

8. The kind of memory that does not break down 
the ability to think accurately. 

Dr. Arnold Tompkins says the following of defini- 
tion taught by the inductive method : "It (definition) 
is a process of thinking which brings into unity the 
individual and universal — the problem of all thought, 
and which brings the learner into unity with the 
world of thought, the end of all learning. This is its 
primary educational value. 

The power to discern unity in the midst of diver- 
sity; to detect essential likenesses amidst engrossing 
and non-essential differences; to find the enduring 
under the mask of obtruding, accidental, and super- 
ficial attributes, is a fundamental characteristic of 
every well-trained mind. To define is not simply to 
unify individuals ; but, in unifying, to find their essen- 
tial nature. The common nature in which they are 
unified is the essential nature of each individual. 
Hence the habit of thinking in the form of definition 
is the habit of thinking the true nature of things; 
which is the primary function of mind. 

This unifying act of mind is complex ; and has a 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 63 

richer significance in training than at first appears. 
It requires accurate, thorough, and methodical obser- 
vation; precise discrimination through comparison and 
contrast ; abstraction of that which abides after dif- 
ferences have been canceled ; and generalization, by 
holding in mind the difference of individuals while 
binding them into the unity of their common nature. 
So that while training to correct habits of definition, 
the teacher is carrying forward a large number of 
related habits. Too much can not be said, therefore, 
by way of urging the teacher to train the student in 
the power of logical definition, since it is a form of 
activity by which he comes into unity with the world 
of thought. 

Definitions are usually treated as mere formal 
statements to be recited and lodged away in memory, 
rather than thought processes of defining in funda- 
mental forms of mental activity. " "To reap the best 
results, the formal statement of a definition should 
not be made until the student has had a full experi- 
ence of all the subordinate processes on which the 
definition is based. In some cases, days, or even 
weeks; should be spent in observing, comparing and 
contrasting, abstracting, and generalizing, before any 
effort is made to formulate a definition. The formal 
definition of an infinitive is the last step in the process 
and not the first, as usually given. A definition made 
in this way, when asked for in reproduction, will not 
be remembered as a form of words ; but the entire 



64 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

experience in making the definition will, in brief, be 
repeated. Definitions made in this way can not be 
forgotten ; or, if forgotten, may be reconstructed on a 
moment's notice. " 



CHAPTER V. 

BASIS IN GRAMMAR. 

Basis for the Sentence as to Nature. — The starting 
point proper in teaching grammar is the sentence, 
and the first work to be done with the sentence is to 
study its nature. But to study the nature of the sen- 
tence is to study how it was born ; that is, how it came 
to be. We know that the sentence was born of a 
desire to communicate a thought. So in order to un- 
derstand the nature of the sentence the nature of the 
thought must be understood. The nature of the 
thought can not be understood, however, without 
knowing what an idea is, and an idea can not well be 
understood without involving a knowledge of its sym- 
bol, the word. Ideas are the mind 'snactivi ties appro- 
priate to objects, attributes, and relations. These 
three things, objects, "attributes, and relations make up 
the universe. There is nothing which is not an object 
or an attribute or a relation. Ideas thus arise^from 
the consideration by the mind of objects, attributes, 
and relations. So to understand well an idea, an 
object, an attribute, and a relation must be under- 
stood. Therefore, to build up the basis for teaching 
the nature of the sentence well objects, attributes, 



66 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

relations, ideas, and thoughts must be understood. 
The following little outline will show the basis for 
teaching the sentence. 
I 1 . The object, 
l 2 . Classes. 

I 3 . Material. 
2 3 . Immaterial. 
2 2 . Attributes. 
I 3 . Classes. 

I 4 . Quality. 
2 4 . Condition. 
3 4 . Action. 
3 2 . Relations. 
2 1 . Idea. 

I 2 . Symbol of. 
I 3 . Word. 

I 4 . Classes on basis of what they ex- 
press. 
I 5 . Substantive. 
2 5 . Attributive. 
3 5 . Relational. 
4 5 . Form. 
3 1 . Thought. 

I 2 . Elements of. 
I 3 . Subject. 
2 3 . Predicate. 
3 3 . Copula. 
2-'. Symbol of. 
I 3 . Sentence. 
Principles of Mind Underlying Basis. — Basis, as 
has been said before, means the points of knowledge 
the child already has upon which one can build in 
teaching any new point or points of knowledge. The 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 67 

principles of mind upon which basis in its pedagog- 
ical aspect is founded are as follows : — 

1. The mind naturally goes to the unknown from 
the nearest related knoivn. 

2. The mind from its organic nature best grasps, 
and retains that which is well organized. 

The mind can go no other way in learning than 
from the known to the unknown, but it makes a differ- 
ence whether it attempts to go from the nearest re- 
lated known to the unknown, or from some remotely 
related known to the unknown. 

Illustration. — The mind in denning an adjective 
does not naturally think that the adjective is a thing, 
though it is the truth; but it thinks the adjective is an 
attributive word, a class of known things, and then 
narrows it down further. A thing is known, but is 
not as closely related to the adjective as an attributive 
word, another known thing. 

It is well known that those things which are 
taught in a fragmentary, unsystematic, unorganized 
manner are difficult to grasp and to remember, while 
work well organized is much more easily grasped and 
remembered. This is true because only in that which 
is well organized are the relations traced out and em- 
phasized. This truth makes it imperative that in 
teaching any subject it be progressively developed, 
each step taken forming a basis for the next step in 
the development. The subject of geometry well 



68 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

illustrates this point, but it is equally true in de- 
veloping the subject of grammar. 

Violations of Basis.— There are many violations 
of basis in grammar as treated in text-books on the 
subject and as usually taught. These occur in two 
ways. First, a subject is treated for which the basis 
has not been given, or a lesson taught for which the 
basis has not been worked out. Secondly, subjects 
are treated and lessons taught in such a way that use 
is not made of the basis the child has. Both are bad 
and detract from habits of careful thinking. 

Illustration. — A text-book in treating the gram- 
matical properties of the noun gave the following 
statement for the objective case: "The objective case 
is the use of the noun or pronoun as the object of a 
transitive verb in the active voice or of its participles. " 
The transitive verb and active voice had not been 
mentioned before and participles had had mere men- 
tion. Again, the definition of the preposition, "A 
preposition is a word which shows the relation be- 
tween its object and some other word" violates basis. 
The meaning of the "object of a preposition" has not 
been worked out in the text up to this place, nor is it 
worked out afterwards, for that matter. A teacher 
often endeavors to teach case without having care- 
fully worked out the many ways a substantive is used 
in the sentence, or he attempts to teach the nature of 
the sentence without having taught the thought. The 
mistake in each case is one of violation of basis, 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 69 

Further Illustration. — The definition for a relative 
pronoun, "A relative pronoun is a word used to rep- 
resent a preceding word or expression called its 
antecedent to which it joins a modifying clause," is a 
violation of basis in that it does not use what the child 
has already learned. The pupil has already learned 
what the pronoun is and this knowledge should be 
used as a basis in defining the relative pronoun. The 
mind knows what a pronoun is, and to define the rela- 
tive pronoun has only to set it off from other pronouns 
to define it according to the laws of definition. This 
it is able to do as soon as it sees that the relative pro- 
noun has a connective use in the sentence. So the 
natural definition for a relative pronoun is as follows: 
A relative pronoun is a pronoun which has a connect- 
ive use in the sentence. The child's knowledge of 
the pronoun is thus used as a basis for teaching the 
relative pronoun. 

Work in Harmony with Basis. — To start out in 
grammar teaching and work all the time in harmony 
with basis, the work must proceed somewhat as 
follows: Objects, attributes, and relations must be 
taught as basis for teaching the idea. Substantive, 
attributive, and relational ideas must be taught as a 
basis for teaching words, and the classes of words; 
also, as basis for teaching the thought. The thought 
and its elements must be taught as a basis for teach- 
ing the sentence and its elements. The sentence and 
its elements must be taught as a basis for teaching 



70 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the classes of sentences, and for teaching the various 
parts of the sentence. And so on through the subject. 
The advantages of working in harmony with the 
right basis are those which accrue from the natural 
and progressive unfolding of the subject. They are 
as follows: 

1. Economy of time and energy. 

2. Right habits of thinking. 

3. Right methods of study. 

4. Interest in the subject. 

5. The cultivation of the right kind of memory, 
the kind that does not break down the ability to think 
logically, but aids in logical thinking. 



CHAPTER VI. 

STEPS IN GRAMMAR. 

Meaning of Steps. — Steps in a whole subject mean 
the various more or less complete advances the mind 
takes in mastering that subject. There are in the 
subject of grammar many distinct points of knowl- 
edge to be mastered, and the mentality correspond- 
ing to these points are steps. Thus the mental 
activity corresponding to the noun, and the mental 
activity corresponding to the pronoun, are two steps 
in grammar. Of course, these steps appropriate to 
the noun and pronoun are analyzable into smaller 
steps. 

Order of Steps. — The question of most importance 
concerning steps in grammar is the order of the 
steps. What shall be taught first, and what shall be 
taught next, and so on? Here is a large amount of 
grammatical material to be taught, and it is possible 
to begin at many different places, and move forward 
in many ways. What shall be the order of taking the 
steps in the subject? Or does it make any difference 
what order the various truths of the subject are 
taught in? The examination of text- books will not 
solve the problem for us, for no two books agree en~ 



72 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

tirely in their order of presenting the grammar work. 
Text-books on grammar in general follow two plans. 
First, in most of the older texts and in some newer 
ones, the parts of speech together with their gram- 
matical properties constitute the first part of the 
book. The second part consists of the sentence, 
taken up as a whole, classified into its classes, then 
broken up into essential elements, and modifying ele- 
ments, etc. The second plan just reverses this order. 
The sentence as a whole, its elements, both essential 
and modifying, etc., according to this plan, constitute 
the first part of the book, the second part consisting 
of the parts of speech and their grammatical proper- 
ties, etc. 

Help on the Problem. — In the search for a solution to 
this problem we have to turn to our knowledge of the 
human mind and its natural mode of acting. As in 
the solution of every educational problem, so in the 
solution of this we thus get some help. A little re- 
flection reveals to us that the mind naturally grasps 
an object as a whole, first, in order to get a grasp of 
it in its entirety ; next it proceeds to break it up into 
its largest parts, and to grasp them as wholes, and in 
relation to the whole object ; next the parts are broken 
up into smaller parts, and it may be that these in turn 
are analyzed into smaller parts ; and thus it goes on. 
This the mind naturally does whether its activity 
be appropriate to a tree, a sewing machine, a lily, a 
poem, a problem in arithmetic, an "original" in 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 73 

geometry, or a sentence. If any one is not certain of 
this point, he has only to watch his own natural men- 
tal activity in taking up any new object of study to 
prove its truth satisfactorily. 

The Mind's Attitude toward the Sentence. — From 
the foregoing study, it is evident that the mind natu- 
rally grasps the sentence as a whole, first ; then it pro- 
ceeds to break it up into its largest parts ; then the 
next smaller, and so on through the subject. So if 
we can determine in our study what these parts in 
the order indicated are, we will have the mind's natu- 
ral order of taking up the subject of grammar. 

It will be necessary to see what the mind can do 
with the sentence as a whole in this subject. First, 
it can seek its nature; secondly, it can define it; 
thirdly, it can classify sentences on two bases, — form, 
and meaning. These various classes can be studied 
as to nature, definition, etc. After working out all 
these general ideas from the thought side, the mind 
naturally seeks to verify its conclusions by exercising 
itself in identifying particulars. 

After thus dealing with the sentence as a whole, 
it would next be broken up into its largest parts. 
The largest parts of the sentence are its essential 
elements, — the subject, the predicate, and the copula. 
The nature, definition, classes, and relation of these 
one to another, the mind will trace out. These gen- 
eral ideas having been worked out from the thought 
side by the inductive method, the mind naturally 



74 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

seeks to verify its conclusions by exercises in identifi- 
cation. 

In the next general movement the essential ele- 
ments will be broken up into the following : 1. On 
the meaning side, into principal and modifying ele- 
ments. 2. On the form side, into words, phrases and 
clauses. Modifying elements will be broken up into: 
.1. Substantive modifiers. 2. Attributive modifiers, 
and these into their sub-classes. 

The next general movement in the breaking up 
process would give the parts of speech, and these 
would come in something like the following order: 
1. Noun. 2. Pronoun. 3. Verb. 4. Adjective. 5. 
Participle. 6. Infinitive. 7. Adverb. 8. Preposi- 
tion. 9. Conjunction. 10. Interjection. 

This is, in general, the order in which the mind 
would naturally take up the subject of grammar. 
There may be places where minor variations in the 
order should be made depending upon the circum- 
stances under which the subject is taught. As a 
rule, the mind's natural way of doing any school work 
should be sought out and followed as nearly as pos- 
sible since it is not only rational, but most economical. 
So any great departure from this general order is to 
be avoided. The following outline will indicate in a 
general way a good order of teaching the subject of 
grammar: 

I. The object. 
* l 1 . Classes. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 75 

■» 

l 2 . Material. 
2 2 . Immaterial. 
2 1 . Attributes. 
I 2 . Classes. 
I 3 . Quality. 
2 3 . Condition. 
3 3 . Action. 
3 1 . Relations. 
II. Idea. 

I 1 . Classes. 

I 2 . Substantive. 
2 2 . Attributive. 
3 2 . Relational. 
2 1 . Symbol of idea. 
I 2 . Word. 

I 3 . Classes on basis of what they express. 
I 4 . Substantive. 
2 4 . Attributive. 
3 4 . Relational. 
4 4 . Form. 
III. Thought. 

I 1 , Elements of. 
I 2 . Subject. 
2 2 . Predicate. 
3 2 . Copula. 
2 1 . Symbol of. 
I 2 . Sentence. 

I 3 . Nature of. 
2 3 . Definition of. 

I 4 . Nature of definition in general. 
3 3 . Classes on basis of meaning. 
I 4 . Declarative. 
2 4 . Imperative. 
3 4 . Interrogative. 
4 4 . Exclamatory. 



76 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE, 

4 3 . Classes on basis of form of thought ex- 
pressed. 
I 4 . Simple. 
2 4 . Complex. 
3 4 . Compound. 
5 3 . Elements of. 
I 4 . Essential. 
I 5 . Subject. 
2 5 . Predicate. 

I 6 . Classes-on basis of form. 
I 7 . Word. 
2 7 . Phrase. 
3 7 . Clause. 
2 6 . Classes on basis of what 
they express. 
I 7 . Substantive. 
2 7 . Attributive. 
3 5 . Copula. 
2 4 . Modifying. 

I 5 . Classes on basis of what they 
express. 
I 6 . Substantive. 
I 7 . Objective. 
2 7 . Objective adverbial. 
3 7 . Appositive. 
4 7 . Possessive. 
2 6 . Attributive. 
I 7 . Adjective. 
2 7 . Adverbial. 
IV. Parts of speech. 
I 1 . Noun. 

I 2 . Classes. 
P. Proper. 
2 3 . Common. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 77 

l 4 . Classes. 
I 5 . Class. 
2 5 . Abstract. 
3 5 . Mass. 
2 2 . Grammatical properties. 
I 3 . Gender. 

I 4 . Classes. 

I 5 . Masculine. 
2 5 . Feminine. 
3 5 . Neuter. 
4 5 . Common. 
2 3 . Person. 

I 4 . Classes. 
I 5 . First. 
2 5 . Second. 
3 5 . Third. 
3 3 . Number. 
I 4 . Classes. 

I 5 . Singular. 
2 5 . Plural. 
4 3 . Case. 

I 4 . Classes. , 

l 5 . Nominative. 
2 5 . Objective. 
3 5 . Possessive. 
2 1 . Pronoun. 
I 2 . Classes. 

I 3 . Personal. 
2 3 . Relative. 
3 3 . Interrogative. 
2 2 . Grammatical properties. 

I 3 . Same as noun. 
3 2 . Inflection. 

I 3 . Declension. 



78 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

3 1 . Verb. 

P. Classes on basis of what they express. 
I 3 . Pure. 
2 3 . Attributive. 
I 4 . Classes. 

I 5 . Transitive. 
2 5 . Intransitive. 
2 2 . Classes on basis of form. 
I 3 . Regular. 
2 3 . Irregular. 
3 2 . Classes on basis of rank. 
I 3 . Principal. 
2 3 . Auxiliary. 
4 2 . Classes on basis of number of parts. 
I 3 . Complete. 
2 3 . Redundant. 
3 3 . Defective. 
o 2 . Grammatical properties. 
I 3 . Voice. 

I 4 . Classes. 
I 5 . Active. 
2 5 . Passive. 
2 3 . Mode. 

I 4 . Classes on basis of meaning. 
I 5 . Indicative. 
2 5 . Subjunctive. 
3 5 . Imperative. 
3 3 . Tense. 

I 4 . Classes. 

I 5 . Absolute. 
I 6 . Present. 
2«. Past. 
3 e . Future. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 79 

2 5 . Relative. 

I 6 . Present perfect. 
2 6 . Past perfect. 
3 6 . Future perfect. 
6 2 . Inflection of. 

I 3 . Conjugation. 
4 1 . Adjective. 

I 2 . Classes on basis of the way they affect the 
substantive to which they belong. 
I 3 . Descriptive. 
2 3 . Limiting. 
3 3 . Limiting-descriptive. 
2 2 . Classes on basis of non- attributive use. 
I 3 . Interrogative. 
2 3 . Relative. 
3 2 . Inflection of. 

I 3 . Comparison. 
5 1 . Participle. 
I 2 . Nature. 
2 2 . Classes. 
* 3 2 . Use in sentence. 
6 1 . Infinitive. 
I 2 . Nature. 
2 2 . Classes. 
3 2 . Use in sentence. 
7 1 . Adverb. 

I 2 . Classes on basis of non- attributive use in 
sentence. 
I 3 . Interrogative. 
2 3 . Conjunctive. 
2 2 . Inflection. 

I 3 . Comparison. 
8 1 . Preposition. 
9 1 . Conjunction. 



80 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

P. Classes on the basis of kind of relation ex- 
pressed. 

I 3 . Coordinate. 

2 3 . Subordinate. 
10 1 . Interjection. 
This outline is not meant to be exhaustive at all. 
It is meant to be suggestive, and so can be followed by 
any teacher without detracting from the teacher's 
individuality. At nearly all places there must be 
much material filled in, in actual grammar teaching. 
Whenever the general ideas are worked out, there 
must be an abundance of work given in identification 
to the end of fixing in the mind of the learner these 
general ideas. For instance, if the definitions for the 
subject, copula and predicate of the sentence have 
been worked out, the pupils should have an abundance 
of practice in identifying subjects, predicates, and 
copulas in many various sentences. They should 
give their reasons for making the identifications as 
they do. This is the procedure the mind naturally 
takes after having formed a general idea. 



CHAPTER VII. 
CONCRETE ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Purpose. — It will be the purpose of these illustra- 
tions to show how the subject of grammar may be 
taught inductively; to show how the pupils may be 
led to work out the subject for themselves in a way 
perfectly natural to them. The lessons illustrated 
will follow the outline given in the last chapter. 

The Object. — 1. The robin is a friendly bird. 2. 
Longfellow had good ideas of life. 3. The sea is the 
home of many curious things. 4. Water is composed 
of two gases. 5. The maple is a beautiful tree. 6. 
Love is the mainspring of all human activity. 7. The 
student was rewarded for his industry. 8. Virtue 
will bring its reward. 9. Whittier loved truth and 
goodness. 10. Hate and anger are not necessarily bad. 

What do the italicized words in the above sen- 
tences suggest to you? What else may they be called? 
What do you mean by an object? What is one truth 
of each of the objects expressed by the italicized 
words? What is a second truth? Each of these 
truths is called an essential idea of an object. What 
are the essential ideas of an object? Define an object. 
Note the relation between the essential ideas of an 
object and its definition. What is meant by the es- 
sential ideas of anything? How do the objects ex- 



82 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

pressed by the italicized words in sentences 1, 2, 3, 4, 
and 5, differ from the objects expressed by the itali- 
cized words in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10? Those expressed in 
1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are called material objects; those in 6, 
7, 8, 9, and 10 are called immaterial objects. What are 
the essential ideas of a material object; also, of an im- 
material object? Define each. 

Answers to the above questions. — They suggest 
things to us. They may be called objects. We mean 
a thing of some sort. It is some sort of thing. The 
mind thinks about it. The essential ideas of an ob- 
ject are, — 1. It is a thing. 2. The mind thinks about 
it. An object is anything about which the mind thinks. 
The essential ideas of anything are just those points 
which enter into a definition of that thing. Those ex- 
pressed in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 occupy space while those 
expressed in 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 do not. The essential 
ideas of a material object are, — 1. It is an object. 2. 
It occupies space. The essential ideas of an imma- 
terial object are, — 1. It is an object. 2. It does not 
occupy space. A material object is an object ivhich 
occupies space. An immaterial object is an object which 
does not occupy space. 

These sentences and questions constitute the 
assignment for the lesson and are given to the stu- 
dents to study before going to the recitation. The 
answers are what would be worked out in the recita- 
tion. Oral questions supplementary to the written 
would no doubt have to be asked in the class. But 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 88 

the pupil is ultimately to be led to make the answers 
indicated. 

The succeeding lesson should be a lesson having 
the following points: — 1. Fixing in the minds of the 
pupils the points already worked out. 2. Good exer- 
cises in pointing out objects, and the classes of ob- 
jects. 

An Attribute. — 1. Beautiful days are pleasant. 2. 
Gold is yellow. 3. The road is dusty. 4. The stove is 
hot now. 5. The children are singing. 6. The run- 
ning water babbles. 

The italicized words in the above sentences ex- 
press attributes. To what does each attribute be- 
long? What does it do for the object? What is 
another term for an attribute? Give the essential 
ideas of an attribute. Define an attribute. What do 
the attributes expressed in sentences 1, and 2 tell 
about their objects? What do those in 3, and 4 tell 
about their objects? What do those in 5, and 6 tell 
about their objects? On the basis of what they tell 
about their objects how many classes of attributes 
expressed in the above sentences? What are good 
names for these three classes? Give the essential 
ideas of each class. Define each class. 

Answers to above. — Each attribute belongs to an 
object. It shows the mind something about the ob- 
ject in order that it may know it. Mark, and charac- 
teristic, are other terms for attribute. The essential 
ideas of an attribute are, — 1. It is any mark of an ob- 



84 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

ject. 2. The mind knows an object by these marks. 
An attribute is any mark of an object which helps the 
mind in knowing it. Those in 1, and 2 tell the quality 
of their objects. Those in 3, and 4 tell the condition 
of their objects. Those in 5, and 6 tell that their 
objects are acting. On the basis of what they tell 
about their objects there are three classes. Attri- 
butes of quality, attributes of condition, and attri- 
butes of action, are good names. The essential ideas 
of an attribute of quality are, — 1. It is an attribute. 
2. It is permanent in the object. The essential ideas 
of an attribute of condition are, — 1. It is an attribute. 
2. It shows its object as different at different times. 
The essential ideas of an attribute of action are, — 1. 
It is an attribute. 2. It shows its object as changing. 
An attribute of quality is an attribute which remains 
permanent in an object. An attribute of condition is an 
attribute ivhich shows an object as different at different 
times. An attribute of action is an attribute which 
shoivs its object as changing. 

In this lesson, like the preceding one, and like 
several that will follow, the sentences and the ques- 
tions constitute the assignment. The answers are 
those which would be worked out in the class dis- 
cussion at recitation. 

Relation, — Text-books in grammar and teachers 
of grammar usually assume that pupils understand 
relation and proceed to talk of relation in various 
ways in grammar work. As a matter of fact it is a 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 8ft 

very hard task for any one to get a very definite idea 
of just what the term relation means as used in 
English. It is surely worthy of a definite study. 

1. The house on the hill is a dwelling. 2. 
Sponges are animals. 3. The apple blossom is a 
rose. 4. Henry and Edward are worthy boys. 5. 
He sprang across the brook. 

The italicized words in the above sentences ex- 
press relation. What does "on" do for "house" and 
"hill"? What does "are" do for "sponges" and 
"animals"? Do the italicized words in 3, 4, and 5 
have a similar use? Show. Why does the mind 
make this connection? How do we happen to have 
such words as the italicized above? What are the 
essential ideas of a relation? Define a relation. 

Answers to the above questions. — "On" ex- 
presses a connection between the objects expressed 
by "house" and "hill". "Are" does the same thing 
for "sponges" and "animals". They do. In each 
case the mind goes naturally from one term to the 
other by the way of the thing the italicized words ex- 
press. Thus they express a connection. The mind 
naturally makes this connection among things be- 
cause of their likeness and difference. The mind 
having made this connection, there became a neces- 
sity for such words to express this connection. This 
necessity is the origin of such words. The essential 
ideas of a relation are, — 1. It is a connection between 
things. 2. The mind makes it because of the like- 



86 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

ness and difference of these. A relation is the con- 
nection which the mind makes between things because of 
their likeness and difference. 

The Idea. — 1. The rose is a beautiful flower. 2. 
Bryant was the poet of nature. 3. The mushroom is 
a peculiar plant. 4. Indianapolis is the capital of 
Indiana. 5. The lily is a beautiful flower. 

Each of the italicized words expresses an idea. 
What kind of thing is that expressed by each word? 
What difference is there between that expressed by 
each word and that expressed by each whole sen- 
tence? What are the essential ideas of an idea? De- 
fine an idea. What do "rose", "flower", "Bryant", 
"mushroom", "plant", "Indianapolis", and "lily", 
express ideas of? What do "was", "is" and "of" ex- 
press ideas of? What do "peculiar" and "beautiful" 
express ideas of? How many classes of ideas in the 
above sentences? What are good names for these 
ideas? 

Answers to the above questions. — Each word ex- 
presses a mental thing. Each word expresses a 
more simple thing than that expressed by each sen- 
tence. The essential ideas of an idea are, — 1. An 
idea is a mental product. 2. It is the simplest 
mental product appropriate to a thing as a whole. 
An idea is the simplest mental product appropriate to a 
thing as a whole. They express ideas of objects. 
They express ideas of relations. They express ideas 
of attributes. There are three classes of ideas in the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 87 

above sentences. Substantive ideas, attributive ideas, 
and relational ideas are good names for them. 

The Word. — 1. Beautiful flowers are a blessing. 2. 
Life is real, life is earliest. 3. There are four sevens in 
twenty -eight. 4. Oh! there are people shivering with 
cold to-day. 5. A dainty flower is ivy green. 

What is each of the italicized in the above sen- 
tences? What is each word? What does each word 
do? Give the essential ideas of a word. Define a 
word. What kinds of ideas do the words in these 
sentences express? On the basis of the kinds of ideas 
they express how many classes of words are there? 
What would be good names for these classes of 
words? Give the essential ideas of each class. De- 
fine each class. 

Answers to the above questions. — They are 
words. Each word is a language form. Each word 
expresses an idea. The essential ideas of a word are, 
— 1. It is a language form. 2. It expresses an idea. 
A word is a language form which expresses an idea. 
The words in these sentences express substantive 
ideas, attributive ideas, and relational ideas. There 
are three classes. Good names for them are sub- 
stantive words, attributive ivords, and relational words. 
The essential ideas of the substantive word are, — 1. 
It is a word. 2. It expresses a substantive idea. Of 
the attributive, — 1. It is a word. 2. It expresses an 
attributive idea. Of the relational word, — 1. It is a 
word. 2. It expresses a relational idea. The sub- 



8H METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

stantive word is a word that expresses a substantive idea. 
The attributive word is a word that expresses an attribu- 
tive idea. A relational word is a word that expresses a 
relational idea. 

It must not be lost sight of that after working 
out these general ideas in this inductive manner, the 
points must be fixed in mind, and abundant exercises 
given. The following will indicate what an assign- 
ment for a lesson of this kind would be: — 

1. Fix in mind all points we have had on the word 
and its classes. 

2. Classify the words in the following sentences 
and give reasons for your opinions. 1. Maud Muller 
on a summer day Raked the meadow sweet with hay. 
2. The oriole builds a swinging nest. 3. Mold, mil- 
dew, yeast and mushrooms are wonderful plants. 4. 
The brain is about one fortieth of the entire body in 
weight. 5. Life should be full of earnest work. 6. 
All. labor is noble and holy. 7. Truth crushed to 
earth will rise again, For the eternal years of god are 
her's. 8. Alas ! there are people dying of hunger to- 
day. 9. He who gives himself with his gift feeds 
three. 10. There is a divinity which shapes our ends. 

The Thought. — 1. Man is an animal. 2. Plants 
grow. 3. The bird is singing. 4. The happy chil- 
dren are playing in the woods. 5. Industrious men 
are usually successful. 6. Go. 7. Excused. 

Each of the above expresses what? A thought is 
first of all what kind of thing? How is a thought 



method in language and grammar. Kg 

formed? How many ideas must a thought have in it? 
Show. What are the essential ideas of a thought? 
Define a thought. How many elements has every 
thought? Show. What may we call them? What 
are the essential ideas of each of the elements of a 
thought? Define the elements of a thought. 

Answers to the above questions. — Each expresses 
a thought. First, a thought is a mental product. A 
thought is formed by the mind's thinking the relation 
between two ideas. Every thought must have in it 
three ideas, at the least. There must be two ideas 
for a relation to exist between; and there must be an 
idea of the relation between them. The essential 
ideas of a thought are as foUows, — 1. It is a mental 
product. 2. It consists of three ideas one of which 
asserts the relation between the other two. A 
thought is a mental product consisting of three ideas one 
of which asserts the relation between the other two. 
Every thought has three elements. First, there are 
two ideas to be related, each making an element; 
secondly, there is the idea asserting the relation, 
making the third element. They are called the sub- 
ject of the thought; the predicate of the thought; and 
the copula of the thought. The essential ideas of the 
subject of a thought are, — 1. It is an idea. 2. Some- 
thing is asserted of the object of which it is the idea. 
The subject of a thought is an idea of an object of which 
something is asserted. The essential ideas of a predi- 
cate of thought are,- — 1. It is an idea. 2. This idea is 



90 MEtHOD IN G&AMMAft AND LANGUAGE. 

that which is asserted of the subject idea. The predi- 
cate of a thought is the idea which is asserted of the sub- 
ject of thought. The essential ideas of the copula of 
thought are,— 1. It is an idea. 2. It asserts the re- 
lation between the subject and predicate of thought. 
The copula of thought is an idea which asserts the rela- 
tion between the subject and predicate of thought. 

The Sentence. — 1. Man is mortal. 2. The tree is 
green. 3. Shut the door. 4. Excused. 5. The 
whale is not a fish. 6. The black-snake is harmless. 
7. The robin is a good friend to man. 8. In a tree. 
9. On the hill. 10. A fine red apple. 

What, first, are each of the above? What do 1, 2, 
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 do? How do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 differ 
from 8, 9, and 10? What are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 
called? 8, 9, and 10 are called phrases. How does a 
sentence differ from a phrase? What are the essen- 
tial ideas of a sentence? Define a sentence. How 
did a sentence come to be? 

Answers to the above questions. — Each of the 
above is a language form. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 ex- 
press thoughts while 8, 9, and 10 do not. 1, 2, 3, 4, 
5, 6, and 7 are sentences. A sentence differs from a 
phrase in that a sentence expresses a thought while 
a phrase expresses merely related ideas, but not a 
thought. The essential ideas of a sentence are, — 1. 
It is a language form. 2. It expresses a thought. A 
sentence is that language form which expresses a thought. 
The mind had a thought and wished to communicate 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 91 

it. This wish to communicate a thought brought the 
sentence into existence. 

Classes of Sentences on Basis of Meaning. — 1. 
Dewey is called the hero of Manila. 2. A successful 
life is usually one of intense activity. 3. Why is 
there so much poverty in such a rich country? 4. 
Where did you lose the ball? 5. Mercy, how it rains ! 
6. O, what a sad calamity! 7. Go, thou, and do like- 
wise. 8. Prepare for your work. 

How do sentences 1, and 2 appeal to the mindy 
How do 3, and 4 appeal to the mind? What is the 
purpose of 5, and 6; of 7, and 8? On the basis of pur- 
pose, or the way they appeal to the mind, or meaning, 
how many classes of sentences here? What are they 
called? Give the essential ideas of each class. De- 
fine each class. 

Answers to the above questions. — Sentences 1, 
and 2 appeal to the mind for the purpose of giving 
information. Sentences 3, and 4 appeal to the mind 
for the purpose of seeking information. Sentences 
5, and 6 have as their purpose to arouse feeling. 
Sentences 7, and 8 have as their purpose to move to 
action. There are four classes of sentences. They 
are called declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and 
imperative. (If students should not know the names 
of these four classes of sentences, the proper thing 
would be just to give them the names). The essential 
ideas of the declarative sentence are, — 1. It is a sen- 
tence. 2. Its purpose is to give information. A de- 



92 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

clarative sentence is a sentence ivhose purpose is to give 
information, The essential ideas of an interrogative 
sentence are, — 1. It is a sentence. 2. Its purpose is 
to seek for information. An interrogative sentence is a 
sentence whose purpose is to seek for information. The 
essential ideas of an exclamatory sentence are, — 1. It 
is a sentence. 2. Its purpose is to arouse feeling. 
An exclamatory sentence is a sentence whose purpose is 
to arouse feeling. The essential ideas of the imperative 
sentence are, — 1. It is a sentence. 2. Its purpose is 
to move to action. An imperative sentence is a sentence 
whose purpose is to more to action. 

Classes of Sentences on the Basis of the Form of 
Thought Expressed. — 1. Mr. McKinley is our presi- 
dent. 2. Bright days bring cheerful faces. 3. The 
man who killed Garfield and who was hanged was an 
assassin. 4. A peculiarity of English is, that it has 
so many borrowed words. 5. Life is real and life is 
earnest. 6. He made the proposition, but they did 
not accept it. 

How many thoughts expressed by each of the 
first two sentences? How do the second two senten- 
ces differ from the first two? How do they differ 
from the third two? On the basis of the form of 
thought expressed how many classes of sentences in 
the above? The first two are called simple sentences; 
the second two complex sentences; and the third two, 
compound sentences. Give the essential ideas of the 
simple sentence. Give the essential ideas of the com- 



METHOD JN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 93 

plex sentence. Give the essential ideas of the com- 
pound sentence. Define the simple sentence; the 
complex; also, the compound. 

Answers to the above. — Each of the first two 
sentences expresses just one thought. The second 
two sentences each express two or more thoughts one 
or more of which are not of equal importance to the 
other, while the third two sentences each express 
more than one thought each of which is of equal im- 
portance to the others. There are three classes. 
The essential ideas of the simple sentence are,— 1. It 
is a sentence. 2. It expresses but a single thought. 
The essential ideas of the complex sentence are, — 1. 
It is a sentence. 2. It expresses two or more 
thoughts one or more of which are of less importance 
than the leading thought. The essential ideas of a 
compound sentence are, — 1. It is a sentence. 2. It 
expresses two or more thoughts of equal importance 
and not of less importance than any other thought ex- 
pressed in the sentence. The simple sentence is a sen- 
tence which expresses but a single thought. A complex 
sentence is a sentence which expresses two or more 
thoughts one or more of which are of less importance than 
the leading thought. The compound sentence is a sen- 
tence which expresses two or more thoughts of equal im- 
portance, and not of less importance than any other 
thought expressed in the sentence. 

Fixing the General Ideas in Mind. — After working 
out general notions, the mind always of its own ac- 



94 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

cord returns to the examination of particulars to 
verify, and fix with itself those ideas. The following 
is a lesson in this line of work. 

Classify the following sentences on both the 
basis of meaning and the basis of form of thought ex- 
pressed. Give reasons for each step: — 

1. Hope comes with smiles to cheer the hour of 
pain. 

2. Men's opinions vary with their interests. 

3. The power which brings a pin to the ground 
holds the earth in its orbit. 

4. He necessarily remains weak who never tries 
exertion. 

5. William and Thomas went to town. 

6. John and Mary are a handsome couple. 

7. Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of 
heaven, blossomed the lovely stars. 

8. Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death. 

9. Art is long and time is fleeting. 

10. The time when w T e should act is at hand and 
the time will come when we must cease to act. 

11. Our intention is, that this shall not disturb 
you. 

12. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty 
spirit before a fall. 

Assignments. — Since one object of this book is to 
serve as a text in method classes, in the following 
portions of this chapter some assignments on sub- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 95 

jects chosen promiscuously will be given without the 
answers. 

The Essential Elements of the Sentence. — 1. Dewey 
is a hero. 2. The boy runs. 3. The boy is running. 
4. Flowers of early spring are blooming in the 
meadow. 5. Birds fly. 6. The soul lives. 

What does each of the above sentences express? 
How many elements has each thought? What are 
they called? What in each sentence expresses the 
subject of thought; the predicate of thought; also, the 
copula of thought? From the thought side, how 
many essential elements has the sentence? Name 
them. What is the first thing that each essential 
element of the sentence is? What does each do? 
Give the essential ideas of each of the essential ele- 
ments of the sentence. Define each of the essential 
elements of the sentence. 

Noun and Pronoun. — 1. The bird was wounded by 
the storm. 2. The forest is the home of many creat- 
ures. 3. Where are you going? 4. He came hur- 
riedly into the room. 

What do the italicized words express? On the 
basis of what they express what kind of words are 
they? How do those in 1, and 2 differ from those in 
3, and 4? What part of speech are those in 1, and 2; 
those in 3, and 4? Give the essential ideas of the 
noun. Give the essential ideas of the pronoun. De- 
fine each. 



96 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

The Appositive and the Possessive.— 1. The nation's 
emblem is an eagle. 2. William's effort was re- 
warded. 3. His industry was noticed. 4. William 
the student was rewarded. 5. Dewey the psychologist 
is a great thinker. 6. He himself told me so. 

How are the italicized terms in 1, 2, and 3 like 
those in 4, 5, and 6? How are they different? What 
are the italicized terms in 1, 2, and 3 called? What 
are those in 4, 5, and 6 called? Give the essential 
ideas of the possessive; of the appositive. Define the 
appositive; the possessive. Compare and contrast 
the appositive and possessive as to the following 
points: — 1. Essential ideas. 2. Use in sentence. 3. 
Modifiers they may take. 

Comparison of Noun ami Pronoun. — Compare and 
contrast the noun and pronoun as to, — 1. Essential 
ideas. 2. Use in sentence. 3. Modifiers they may 
take. 

Gender. — 1. The teacher made his report. 2. The 
teacher made her report. 3. The boy studies his les- 
son. 4. The girl studies her lesson. 5. The man is 
a scholar. 6. That lady is an author. 7. The sun 
shows his power. 8. The moon hides her pale face. 
9. The chair is a present. 10. Only a parent fully 
understands a child. 11. He is a statesman. 

What can you tell about the object expressed by 
each italicized word as regards sex? What shows 
this? Whatever shows this is called gender. Give 
the essential ideas of gender. Define gender. There 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 97 

is basis for how many classes of gender in the above 
sentences? Name them. Give the essential ideas of 
each class. Define each class. 

Case. — 1. Horses are domestic animals. 2. 
Flowers of spring are pleasing to us. 3. He who will 
not keep Ms promises should not be trusted. 4. 
Mary's mother was kind to her. 5. The teacher does 
her work well. 

What is one essential difference you notice among 
the italicized words in the above sentences? See if 
you can find out a second difference. What do these 
two things show 7 about the italicized words? These 
two things considered as to what they show are called 
ease by grammarians. Case belongs to what class of 
words? Work out the essential ideas of case. De- 
fine case. There is basis for how many cases in the 
above sentences? 

Nominative Case. — 1. Sponges are animals. 2. I 
know that jloivers area blessing. 3. My stars! is this 
fairy-land? 4. John, you shut the door. 5. Spain, 
we vanquished her. 6. Summer having come, we will 
rejoice. 7. William being a true man, all respected 
him. 8. His being a policeman prevented the trouble. 

9. Henry the poet was an ornament to his country. 

10. Dewey is called the hero of Manila. 11. They 
seem to have been successful men. 

How are the italicized substantives used in the 
above sentences? A substantive used as any of the 
above is in the nominative relation. What are the 



98 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

essential ideas of the nominative case? Define it. 
Illustrate nominative relation with original sentences. 

The Objective Case. — 1. John struck James. 2. 
They saw him run. 3. We believe him to be an honest 
man. 4. The president asked Mm to speak. 5. For 
that man to be a hero is impossible. 6. The precept 
was for Mm to be always an honest man. 7. God was 
angry with the children of Israel for he overthrew 
them in the ivilderness. 8. Bring me the book. 9. You 
can not run a mile but you can walk it. 10. He was 
presented a cane by his friends. 11. I saw Niagara, 
a grand spectacle. 

How are the italicized substantives used in the 
above sentences? A substantive used as any of the 
above is in the objective relation. Give the essential 
ideas of the objective case. Define it. Illustrate the 
objective relation with good original English senten- 
ces. 

Further Study of the Above Illustrations. — In the 
light of the purpose of grammar as studied in a pre- 
vious chapter, it is easily seen that the above series 
of concrete lessons have value in realizing each phase 
of the triple purpose of this subject. They are of 
most worth, however, in working out the disciplinary 
purpose of grammar. They are inductive in nature; 
they lead the student to do the work for himself; they 
make him independent and self-helpful; they work 
from the thought side constantly; they establish the 
spirit of free inquiry and free investigation; they give 



c 
J 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 99 

right habits of study; and they give a critical attitude 
of mind. But these various things are the essence of 
mental discipline from the side of ability to think 
readily and accurately. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
DEVICES IN GRAMMAR. 

Kinds of Devices. — Devices in any kind of teaching 
are of great importance and are worthy of the most 
careful consideration, because whether the desired 
end is reached in teaching depends always to a 
greater or less extent upon the means employed. 
But in grammar teaching the means employed to- 
gether with the way they are employed is second in 
importance to no other question in the study of 
method in grammar. The following are all properly 
to be considered as devices in grammar teaching: 1. 
Assignments. 2. Class discussions. 3. Parsing. 4. 
Analysis. 5. Diagraming. 6. Text-books. These 
all have their legitimate uses in grammar teaching 
and are all subject to abuses. Each is worth special 
study. 

Assignments. — There is no other device in the 
hands of the teacher that can be used with so much 
effect in making his grammar teaching a success as 
his assignments. No other device furnishes better 
opportunity for the display of tact and skill in gram- 
mar teaching. Every assignment in any subject 
should place before the class a definite problem for 



Method in grammar and language. lot 

solution, and it must be so stated that the learner will 
see just what the problem is. While this is true in 
every subject, it applies with unusual force in gram- 
mar. Clear, definite, logical assignments bring clear, 
definite, logical thinking; and systematic, energetic 
habits of study. These economize time and energy 
and in every way facilitate success. On the other 
hand loose, indefinite, general assignments bring 
slovenly habits of thinking; vague, feeble, uninterest- 
ing recitations; and illogical, bad habits of study. As 
a rule one can depend upon it that he will get just 
about as good recitations as are good his assignments. 
The teacher by skillful assignments can lead the 
pupils to think largely what he wants them to think. 

The assignments in grammar should always go 
upon the principle that form in the sentence is de- 
termined by the thought underlying it, and that 
meaning is the strongest bond of association with 
form. Thus the assignment should lead the learner 
to see the form as determined from the thought side. 
In so far as possible the assignment in grammar 
must lead the learner to do his own thinking. 

Illustration. — If a teacher should give the follow- 
ing assignment to a class, — Define the possessive 
modifier; also, the appositive modifier. How are they 
alike and different in idea? — he would be likely to get 
one of two results. First, the students would go to 
some text-book and commit to memory the definitions 
found there, and make a trial at the comparison. 



102 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE, 

Secondly, they would find no inherent interest in the 
work and, after a feeble effort, give it up without suf- 
ficient preparation. As a matter of fact, in a class of 
any considerable size, a teacher would get both re- 
sults, neither of which is good. 

What would be gained by the following? 1. The 
nation's emblem is an eagle. 2. William's effort was 
rewarded. 3. His honesty was mentioned? 4. Henry 
the poet is remembered. 5. Dewey the psychologist is 
a clear thinker. 6. He himself told me so. 

On the basis of what they express what kind of 
terms are the italicized? What kind of terms do they 
modify? What difference between those in 1, 2, and 
3, and those in 4, 5, and 6? Those in 1, 2, and 3 are 
called what kind of modifiers? Those in 4, 5, and 6 
are called what kind of modifiers? Compare and con- 
trast the appositive modifier with the possessive 
modifier as to essential ideas. Define the possessive 
modifier; also, the appositive modifier. 

For best results the assignment must be given a 
sufficient time before the recitation to give students 
ample opportunity to work out the problems given in 
it. And the more closely the students are held to 
working out the assignments for themselves the more 
successful will be the work and the more good will 
they get from the work. This point is as true in any 
other subject as in teaching grammar. 

Class Discussions. — It is so evident that class dis- 
cussions are a necessity as a device in teaching gram- 



ME^ttOD Itt GRAMMAR A&D LANGUAGE. 10§ 

mar that no further comment is needed on this phase 
of the study. These discussions have the following 
purposes: 1. To test the learner on his preparation 
and understanding of the problems given in the as- 
signment. 2. To supplement the knowledge got in 
the preparation of the lesson. 3. To give right habits 
of study. 4. To approve, and stimulate the learner 
in his work. 

In the class discussion is where the points given 
in the assignments are finally worked out. It often 
happens that a student after making an honest effort 
fails to completely work out a point in the assign- 
ment. Here the teacher has a chance by questions, 
illustrations, and directions to lead the student to 
think out the point for himself. The teacher's oppor- 
tunities for manifesting rare tact and skill in class 
discussions are unlimited. Indeed, teachers are 
usually regarded as successful or unsuccessful ac- 
cording to their skill in conducting class discussions. 
But successful discussions are not isolated things in 
teaching. Every circumstance that goes to make 
school a success or a failure conditions class dis- 
cussions. 

Text-books. — The text-book is relegated to its 
proper importance in grammar teaching when it is 
considered as a mere device. In the way in which 
grammar is frequently taught in school the text-book 
is given a much more important place in the minds of 
both teacher and pupils than it should have. So 



104 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

much emphasis is placed upon the text that students 
get the impression that grammar as a subject is con- 
tained between the lids of the book. On the other 
hand the student should see that the text-book 
merely contains what some one has said on the sub- 
ject of grammar, and that the subject would still 
truly exist, if every text-book were by some means 
simultaneously destroyed. The text-book is com- 
monly given undue importance in teaching grammar. 

It is an abuse of the text-book as a device in 
grammar teaching to have the learner commit to 
memory the various definitions, principles, and rules 
usually found in such books. To ask the student to 
master certain sections of the text, and demand ver- 
bal reproduction of it in the recitation is bad in the 
extreme in teaching English grammar. 

There are, at any rate, two legitimate uses of the 
text-book as a device in teaching grammar. 1. If it 
contains a good collection of sentences, these may be 
used advantageously in the study of particulars in the 
various exercises where sentences are needed. 2. 
After students have worked out well any phase of 
grammar inductively, they may with much profit go 
to the text-book and study it carefully on the same 
points. New suggestions will thus be studied with 
interest and profit, and that which the student has 
discovered for himself will be verified and fixed 
firmly in mind. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 105 

Parsing. — In teaching, as in all other work, 
things tend to go by extremes. In accord with this 
idea, there was a time in grammar teaching when it 
consisted almost wholly of parsing. The parts of 
speech together with their grammatical properties 
were studied briefly and in a general way from the 
text-book, then orders, or schemes, for parsing were 
committed to memory. The remainder of the work 
was parsing; the parsing of everything, prose, 
poetry, figures, and signs arithmetical, algebraic, and 
geometrical, and even pictures. It finally came to be 
seen that much of this work was almost wholly value- 
less, and then came the reaction against it. So in 
many places at present there is a tendency to do away 
with parsing altogether. This is the other extreme. 

There is a place for parsing in teaching grammar, 
where it may be used with profit. When students 
have worked through inductively any part of speech 
and its properties, their minds tend perfectly natu- 
rally to return to particulars to identify them and 
verify its conclusions. But this is just what the mind 
does in parsing. 

Illustration. — If the students have worked 
through the noun, the pronoun, and their grammat- 
ical properties, gender, number, person, and case, a 
lesson of the following kind would certainly be help- 
ful, interesting, and since in accord with what the 
mind naturally tends to do, pedagogical. 

Point out the substantive words, classify them, 



106 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

and give the gender, person, number, and case of 
each, with reasons, in the following sentences: — 

1. There are four Smiths in school. 

2. I am he of whom you spoke yesterday. 

3. John said to James, "I thought I heard you 
say to William, 'I have wounded myself". 

4. The sun shows his power and glory. 

5. Every thought, emotion or impulse one has 
literally burns some of his brain substance. 

Abuse of Parsing. — Parsing as a device in gram- 
mar is liable to abuse. So much emphasis is placed 
upon it that it becomes the end instead of a means, 
and to be able to parse well is taken to be the highest 
good in grammar work. And again parsing often de- 
generates into the veriest formalism. A set order of 
parsing must be gone through with, with every word 
whether it is worth while to do so or not. In the sen- 
tence, He has groivn to be a man, the word man offers 
but one point of grammatical importance to any one 
who knows just a little grammar. So to have the 
student go through the regulation "noun, common, 
class, masculine gender, third person, singular num- 
ber, nominative case, rule, etc." is not only formal, 
but useless and silly. It is better by far to go di- 
rectly to the problem the word involves and stop 
when it is solved. 

Analysis. — Analysis is a legitimate device in 
grammar. It has the same purposes in general that 
parsing has. That is to say, it is valuable work for 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 107 

the following reasons: 1. By it the mind verifies the 
general notions got in the inductive work. 2. By it 
the mind fixes firmly with itself the definitions, prin- 
ciples, and rules got in the inductive work. 

Analyzing is not so liable to abuse as parsing and 
yet it is liable to similar abuse. It, too, may be made 
the end of grammar work instead of a means; and it, 
too, may degenerate into the veriest formalism. 

Diagraming. — This very popular device in gram- 
mar teaching is, to say the most for it, of very doubt- 
ful value. It is at the best a sort of kindergarten 
device helpful to those who have not the ability to see 
the relations in the sentence without picturing it for 
them. There is good reason for thinking that, in- 
stead of helping students to grow in skill in seeing 
the fine shades of relation in the sentence, it actually 
retards this growth. Diagrams only reveal the 
larger, grosser relations in the sentence; they utterly 
fail to reveal the finer points in the sentence that 
close, accurate grammar work must bring out. 

The English language certainly is a medium for 
communicating thought, clear enough that the rela- 
tion in it may be grasped without mechanically muti- 
lating it and ' hanging these multilated remains on 
diagrams. ' 

For students who have reached a stage of de- 
velopment that fits them for grammar work, it can 
hardly be proved that diagraming is a good exercise. 

And again, almost every author has his own 



108 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

"method" of diagraming. Thus a large number of 
"methods" of diagraming are more or less in vogue 
with which students and teachers can not acquaint 
themselves, and with which most do not care to 
acquaint themselves. 

From a strictly pedagogical point of view, dia- 
graming in grammar is an exceedingly poor device in 
grammar teaching. 



CHAPTER IX. 
COMMON ERRORS IN TEACHING GRAMMAR. 

Prevalence of. — There is no subject in the school 
curriculum the successful teaching of which does not 
offer difficulties. But some subjects are more easily 
taught than others, and thus opportunities for error 
are more numerous in teaching some subjects than in 
teaching others. Grammar belongs to that class of 
subjects in the teaching of which the opportunities 
for errors are numerous. The following are some of 
the most important common errors: — 1. Teaching 
with indefinite, erroneous purposes. 2. Bad methods 
of teaching definitions. 3. Bad use of text-book. 4. 
Presenting the subject from the form side. 5. In- 
definite, erroneous assignments. 6. Abuse of pars- 
ing. 7. Abuse of diagraming. 8. Bad methods of 
analyzing. 9. The practice of expanding. 10. Teach- 
ing grammar to children whose stage of mental de- 
velopment is such that grammar is not adapted to it. 
For the benefit that comes from the study, each of 
these will be briefly considered. 

Teaching with Indefinite, Erroneous Purposes. — In 
too many cases grammar is taught by teachers who 
have not clearly in mind any further purpose than to 



110 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

follow the school course, or that they may in some 
way, not clearly seen, help the learner in using good 
language. Each of these purposes is too vague and 
indefinite to be of much genuine help in teaching. 
The teacher with such purposes before him sooner or 
later comes to believe that grammar is not a subject 
of much value. He sees no definite good to be 
accomplished and goes about his work with the in- 
tention of accomplishing no definite good, and always 
succeeds. The teacher who holds before himself the 
idea that the main purpose of grammar is "to teach 
how to speak and write correctly" soon discovers the 
contradiction between his purpose and what he 
actually accomplishes. This leads to confusion and a 
loss of faith in grammar, and is attended by all the 
errors that accrue from a lack of faith in one's own 
work. 

Bad Methods of Teaching Definitions. — This is, no 
doubt, the most common and most pernicious error 
made in teaching grammar. The common practice 
of having students to commit to memory formal state- 
ments for various things, called definitions, found in 
text-books is bad in the extreme. It is bad for the 
following reasons: 

1. It is the exact opposite of the mind's natural 
way of defining. 

2. It encourages the learning of meaningless 
forms. 

3. It can not be kept from degenerating into a 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. Ill 

kind of memory that breaks down the ability to think 
accurately. 

4. It makes the student dependent and helpless. 

5. It kills interest and gives the student an 
antipathy for grammar. 

Definitions taught in this way lose all their edu- 
cational value, and fix with the mind undesirable 
habits of thought. 

Wrong Use of Text-Book. — As has been said be- 
fore, the text-book is a mere device in grammar 
teaching, and is not for the purpose of being slavishly 
followed, as is too often done. It is not plain to see 
how a text- book in which the definitions are formally 
stated can be successfully used in teaching grammar. 
Students will depend upon the text-book, and lose the 
benefit of working out the definitions for themselves 
in the natural way. And thus they lose what is 
probably the highest benefit of grammar work. By 
the use of the text- book in which there are formal 
statements for definitions, principles, and rules the 
students form the habit of remembering words in- 
stead of thoughts and principles. This difficulty 
can scarcely be avoided. If the text-books were 
made in such a way that no formal statements of 
definitions and rules were to be found in them, this 
difficulty might be avoided. In the light of our 
studies so far, the best text-book for daily use in the 
class is one which consists almost wholly of good 



112 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

collections of sentences, and directions, but lacking 
all formal definitions and rules. 

Emphasizing the Form Side. — It is often lost sight 
of that all form in language is determined by the 
thought and meaning which lie behind the form, and 
that the meaning is the strongest bond of association 
with the form. To understand meaning as determin- 
ing the form is always most helpful, in that it is in 
accord with the very nature of the sentence as an in- 
strument in communicating thought. 

Growing out of the error of emphasizing too 
much the form in its isolation is the standing contro- 
versy about whether the sentence has or has not in 
all cases three essential elements. Those who look 
only at the form side will always hold that such sen- 
tences as Birds fly have only two essential elements. 
And this is right on a strictly form basis. However, 
from the view-point of the work the sentence has to 
do, every sentence has three essential elements. In 
the above sentence, "fly" performs two offices. 
First, it expresses an attribute of the objects ex- 
pressed by "birds". Secondly, it asserts the rela- 
tion between the idea birds and the idea/?/. But it is 
an error to teach the sentence as having only two es- 
sential elements, because it does not accord with the 
nature of the sentence and is not most helpful. 

Again, emphasis upon the form side leads 
teachers to call such sentences as John and James 
went to school simple sentences, while from the view- 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 113 

point of the work the sentence has to do, it is 
evidently a compound sentence. Many such obvious 
errors arise in grammar teaching because of an un- 
due emphasis upon the form side of the subject. 

It seems strange that one can find in a text-book 
extant the statement that the word there is the sub- 
ject in such sentences as There are four pecks in a 
bushel. Such errors could only arise because of the 
habit of isolating form from meaning. 

Bad Assignments. — Any assignment that does not 
give the learner a definite grammatical problem to 
work out, and one worthy of his prowess, is not the 
best assignment. Any assignment that does not give 
the problem in such a way that the learner can work 
it out is not good. Any assignment that does not 
give the learner right methods of studying grammar 
is faulty. Errors in assignments in any of these 
three ways are common in teaching grammar as 
usually done. Perhaps the worst assignments are 
those in which certain sections of the text-book are 
given to be learned and recited. 

Abuse of Parsing. — This point was treated to some 
length in the study on "Devices," so will need very 
little more said about it here. Suffice it to say that 
the greatest care need be exercised to prevent pars- 
ing from degenerating into the dryest kind of formal- 
ism. Parsing which points to skill in parsing as the 
end is the poorest kind of grammar teaching. 

Abuse of Diagraming. — This point, too, treated in 



114 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the study on "Devices," does not need much study 
here, unless it be for the purpose of emphasis. Dia- 
graming, of doubtful utility at the best, is oftentimes 
made the predominating exercise in grammar teach- 
ing. This' is an error which has many bad effects. 
The ability to diagram sentences, long, short, prose 
or poetry, is no guarantee of proficiency in the sub- 
ject of grammar; and, furthermore, it is not a suf- 
ficient guarantee of an understanding of even the 
sentence under consideration. 

Bad Methods of Analyzing. — Methods of analyzing 
are often of such a character that they just bring out 
the most evident relations in the sentence, and those 
to be seen from the view-point of form alone. 

Illustration. — For instance, in the sentence, The 
guilt of the slave-trade sprang out of a traffic with 
Guinea, "guilt" is called the subject, "sprang" is 
called the predicate, and the copula is not mentioned. 
"Out of" is called a complex preposition. So far, 
there is not a word of truth in the analysis. The sub- 
ject is "The guilt of the slave-trade," and the predi- 
cate is "sprang out of a traffic with Guinea." The 
copula is ' ' sprang. ' ' 

Again, it would be customary to say "out of a 
traffic with Guinea" is an adverbial modifier of 
"sprang." So much is evident and is not of much 
worth in revealing the force of the phrase in the sen- 
tence. But just what is the force of " out of a traffic 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 115 

with Guinea" and the nature of the expression "out 
of" are points of true grammatical worth in the sen- 
tence. 

All this may be expressed by saying analysis 
often degenerates into the dry est sort of formalism. 
This is the error to be guarded against. 

Method of Expanding. — By this is meant that a 
sentence which offers some difficulty in analysis or 
parsing is changed into some sentence which means 
the same, or nearly the same thing, the substituted 
sentence then being disposed of instead of the origi- 
nal one. This is simply evading the point. There 
are no sentences in English which offer difficulties, 
which can not be recast into sentences which mean 
the same thing, or very nearly the same, and whose 
analysis offers little or no difficulty. But the student 
should not be led into deceiving himself by thinking 
he thus has disposed of the original sentence. 

Illustration. — It is of some genuine grammatical 
value to the student to analyze the sentence, "It was 
from me that he received the information. " But re- 
cast the sentence into He received the information from 
me, and its analysis is worth comparatively little. 
Then, again, the student or teacher should not think 
he has analyzed the first sentence, for he has not. It 
remains just the same unsolved problem it was at the 
start. 

Further Illustration. — To take the sentence, / 
know what is right and recast it into the sentence / 



116 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

know the thing ivhich is right before analyzing, is, in 
my judgment, an error. The first sentence has not 
been analyzed. It remains, and a point is evaded. 
There is a real need for such words as "what" in this 
sentence, and the student of grammar should see 
what that need is. To analyze another sentence 
which means the same thing is to turn the student 
away from this truth. 

To change the sentence, The book is worth a dollar, 
to the sentence, The book is ivorth to the extent of a 
dollar, is to ignore an idiom of our language, and 
make a sentence that no good English writer would 
use. 

All this is an error, for it turns the student away 
from seeking a knowledge of the relations in English 
language as it is, and substitutes awkward expres- 
sions for study. 

Attempting to Teach Grammar to Children before 
They Are Capable of Studying It. — It seems strange 
that efforts have been made for so long, to teach 
grammar to children in the first five or six years of 
their school lives without the unreasonableness of 
such work having been seen by more teachers. How- 
ever, teachers are in various places awakening to the 
fact that, in the case of the average child, he needs no 
grammar teaching before fourteen or fifteen. 

Grammar is a very abstract, reflective study, 
and, while children can learn something of the sub- 
ject before the age of fourteen or fifteen, their time 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 117 

would undoubtedly be better employed in some other 
way. There should be systematic, well prepared 
language work given regularly in these years in the 
place of grammar. The difficult grammar work in 
the average school can be done satisfactorily only 
later. This attempt to teach a subject above the 
capacity of children has been a great and common 
error in grammar work every-where. 

Conclusion. — In conclusion we may profitably 
spend a short time in the study of the definition of 
grammar and its two phases, — the science phase and 
the art phase. There are these two phases of gram- 
mar as a subject in the school curriculum, and while 
the emphasis always has been placed upon the science 
phase in teaching, and is properly so done, the art 
phase must also receive attention. 

Definition of Grammar. — Grammar is a sentence 
study. That is to say, it is the subject in the school 
curriculum which deals with the sentence as its 
language unit. And grammar deals with the sen- 
tence as an instrument in expressing thought. The 
formal definition of English grammar according to 
the view taken in these studies is as follows: English 
grammar is that language subject which deals with the 
English sentence as an instrument in expressing thought. 

The Science Phase. — English grammar as a science 
has for its purpose the discovery of the truths of the 
English sentence as determined by the thought it is 
to express. It seeks to arrange these truths accord- 



118 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

ing to laws into a system. Thus English grammar as 
a science is that phase of the subject which treats of 
the laws and principles of the English sentence. It 
is an inductive science. 

The Art Phase. — English grammar as an art has 
for its purpose to teach how to apply the truths of 
the English sentence in correct construction of sen- 
tences. Under the art phase comes the work of 
capitalization and punctuation; correct case, number, 
gender, and person forms; also, correct verb forms, 
etc. The art phase of grammar deals with these 
things in the light of the why. Primary language as 
a subject emphasizes the correct form, but leaves it 
to grammar to teach the reasons for these forms. 

All rules of capitalization and punctuation may 
best be taught inductively. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PURPOSE OF LANGUAGE LESSONS. 

Origin of Language as a Subject — Primary lan- 
guage has not always been regarded as a separate 
subject in the school curriculum. It is within the 
memory of teachers every-where that there was no 
such subject in the school course and so no place for 
it in the daily program. This having been the case, 
the question, What brought primary language as a 
subject into the school curriculum of the primary 
school? at once suggests itself. 

It states it as a general truth to say that the same 
thought which brought grammar into the school cur- 
riculum was, also, the origin of language lessons. 
That is to say, the thought and feeling that the 
children did not use good enough English in express- 
ing their experiences; also, that there was no subject 
in the school course which was helping the children 
much in doing this. But the circumstances under 
which language lessons originated were different 
from those under which grammar originated. When 
grammar came into the course of study there was no 
subject in school for which a claim of specifically 
helping the children in using good English in speak- 



120 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

ing and writing was made. Language came after 
grammar had been tried and found wanting. It took 
a good many years for people to appreciate that 
grammar was not realizing in the lives of the children 
what was claimed to be its main aim, or purpose. At 
length this became evident, and then it was thought 
that there was need for another subject in the school 
course which would actually give the children help in 
communicating their thoughts and feelings in good 
English. There were two aspects of this thought 
from which language as a subject was born. First, 
it was thought that children did much toward form- 
ing their language habits in the first three or four 
years of their school lives, before they were capable 
of studying grammar, and that that was the main 
reason why they did not acquire the habit of using 
good language in their grammar work. Secondly, it 
became known that grammar was claimed to do 
something for the child that it actually did not and 
could not do ; that is, its study did not and could not 
fix with the children the habit of using good language 
in speaking and writing. 

According to the first idea, it was thought that 
primary language should be a subject suitable for 
children to study before they were developed enough 
to study grammar; that it should form a basis for 
grammar study, and that as soon as children could 
take up the study of grammar, they would no longer 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 121 

need to study language lessons. This, it was con- 
ceived, they could do in their fourth or fifth year of 
school life. 

According to the second idea, primary language 
is to be a subject the pursuit of which will actually 
realize in the life of the learner what grammar had 
failed to do ; that is, will actually enable the child to 
use good English in expressing his thoughts and 
feelings. 

Thus primary language as a separate school sub- 
ject was born of two ideas. 1. The need of a subject 
the pursuit of which would give a basis for grammar 
work. 2. The need of a subject the pursuit of which 
would do for the children what grammar had failed to 
do ; that is, give the child the habit of expressing his 
thoughts and feelings in good English. 

History of Language Lessons in the Primary 
Schools. — There is always help in tracing through the 
various stages in the growth in the teaching of any 
subject in the school course. Thus we are enabled to 
see what has been tried together with the various de- 
grees of attendant success, and see to some extent 
what we may do, and what to avoid. 

School officers were among the first to see the 
need of a new subject in the school course whose pur- 
suit would actually teach the children to speak and 
write correctly. The need was perfectly clear. But 
what the nature of the subject should be whose study 
would bring about the desired result was not so clear. 



122 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

Teachers, school officers and book-makers every- 
where courageously went to work on the problem. 

School officers were careful to have a subject 
called primary language appear in the courses of 
study for all primary schools. And every teacher, in 
order to keep up with the times and avoid the criti- 
cism of the school officers, must have a period for 
language lessons appear on his daily program. All 
felt the need, but no one knew just what the subject 
should be like. Teachers must teach something and 
call it primary language. 

In this first stage language lessons were chaotic, 
but partook more of the nature of a kind of grammar 
work. Lessons were given on name words, quality 
ivords, action luords, asking sentences, telling sentences, 
etc., the teacher thus seeming to think it was not 
grammar work, since the names were changed. 

On one occasion the writer heard a class of 
second and third year pupils reciting what their 
teacher called the language lesson. The recitation 
was intended to be on gender, but the little ones mis- 
understood the word and called it "ginger," very 
much to the embarrassment of the teacher. From the 
point of view of a real language lesson these lessons 
were almost useless. But they were a beginning. 

Book-makers, always ready with the very best 
thing on any subject, soon flooded the country with 
books on primary language. And this may be re- 
garded as the second stage in language teaching. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 123 

These books were followed by the teachers and their 
thought as to what primary language as a subject 
was like was thus molded. There were no books to 
be followed in the first stage, but an abundance of 
books characterized the second stage. 

The dominating idea of these books was, that 
principles and rules should be taught to the child in 
the light of which he was expected to speak and write 
good English. The dominating idea of these books 
was so fundamentally wrong that the books were not 
only almost worthless, but were the source of much 
mischief. This was true because they were followed 
by teachers, and thus language teaching in this stage 
of its growth could not rise above the fundamental 
error that children learn to use language by rule. 

In the next stage the language book gave way to 
the more rational idea that no text was needed either 
in the hands of the pupils or in the hands of the 
teacher. This is the third stage in the growth of 
language teaching, and is the stage of the present. 
The idea that characterizes this stage is that language 
lessons may most naturally and best be taught by 
correlating these lessons with other school work; 
with nature study, geography, history, reading, and 
primary literature. 

The Purpose of Language Lessons Analyzed. — The 
aim in language lessons analyzes itself into two 
classes : first, those that are the distinctive aims of 
primary language as a separate subject in the school 



124 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

curriculum; secondly, those that are aims in language 
teaching, but that are also aims of other school work. 
That is to say, first, aims that distinguish language 
lessons from other school subjects; and, secondly, 
aims which language lessons have in common with 
other subjects in school. 

Distinctive Aims of Language Lessons. — These, as 
indicated, are the aims that distinguish primary 
language from all other subjects. Of these there is, 
first, the main aim; and secondly, a subordinate aim. 
The main aim is the most important one, and so the 
work which points toward the realization of this is 
the work upon which the emphasis will fall in teach- 
ing language lessons. The subordinate distinctive 
language aim will call for work that looks toward its 
realization, but, since this is of less importance, less 
emphasis will be placed upon it. 

The Main Distinctive Aim of Language Lessons. — 
The question to be answered here is, What is the 
main thing that language lessons are to do for the 
pupil that is not done by any other lessons so welly 
The answer to this question is, that it is the main aim 
of these lessons to give the pupil the habit of using good 
English in communicating his thought and feeling. 
There are two terms in this statement for the main 
purpose of language which should be emphasized. 
First, the term habit, and secondly, the term good 
English needs special study. It is to be noted that 
the statement does not say to teach hoiv to use good 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 125 

English. There is a world of difference in knowing 
hoio to use good English and in having the habit of 
using good English. One may know how to use good 
English and still have to exercise the greatest care 
and have great difficulty in doing so. But one who 
has acquired the habit of using good language in ex- 
pressing his thoughts does so without trouble, care, 
or difficulty. It is to fix this habit with the children 
that we want to aim at in our primary language work. 

Again, it is not sufficient to aim at teaching how 
to speak and write correctly, if we mean by correctly 
what is grammatically correct. Good English is 
more than grammatically correct English. Correct- 
ness is but one element of good English. The other 
elements are clearness, elegance and energy. Thus 
good English is correct, clear, elegant, and energetic 
English. 

Then, the main distinctive aim of language les- 
sons is to lead the learner to acquire the habit of using 
correct, clear, elegant and energetic English in communi- 
cating his thought and feeling. 

The Subordinate Distinctive Aim of Language 
Lessons. — This aim is in harmony with one phase of 
the thought that brought language as a subject of 
study into the school curriculum. This, it will be re- 
membered was that language was to form a basis for 
the study of grammar, which was to be taught later 
in the child's school life. It is, no doubt, right to re- 
gard it as a distinctive aim of language lessons to lay 



126 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

a basis for grammar work. But this is not the main 
aim, as once thought. This aim is of little importance 
when compared with that of fixing the habit with the 
child of using good language. 

Aims in Common with Other Subjects. — Every sub- 
ject in the school curriculum has aims of its own 
which its study is to realize in the life of the learner ; 
but each subject also has aims that its study realizes 
in the life of the learner, but that could be realized 
probably as well by the study of some other subject. 
These can not be called distinctive aims of language 
lessons, but they must not be lost sight of in teaching 
language. These aims are (1) mental discipline: (2) 
the acquiring of knowledge valuable for guidance in right 
living. The meaning of discipline and valuable 
knowledge have been studied in a previous chapter, 
so need no further study here. 

We may sum up the aim of language lessons as 
follows : 

l 1 . Aim. 

I 2 . Distinctive. 

I 3 . Main. To lead the children to form 
the habit of using correct, clear, elegant, and ener- 
getic English in communicating their thoughts and 
feelings. 

2 3 . Subordinate. To give the children a 
basis for the study of grammar. - 

2 2 . In common with other subjects. 

1 3 . Mental discipline to the end that the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 127 

children may become ready and accurate thinkers; 
lovers of truth, beauty and the right ; and possessors 
of self-control and self-direction. 

2 3 . The acquirement of knowledge valu- 
able for guidance in right living. 

The Aims of Language and Grammar.— Having 
studied the purposes, or aims, of both grammar, and 
language as a subject, some help will come to us from 
comparing these aims. 

Language lessons aim at fixing the habit of using 
good English with the children in communicating 
their thought and feeling. And this is the predomi- 
nant and distinctive aim of this work. The aim of 
grammar which is most like this aim of language is 
that one which is to give knowledge valuable for 
guidance in speaking and writing. But this is not 
the predominant aim of teaching grammar. The pre- 
dominant aim of English grammar is to train the 
mind in right habits of thinking and feeling. The 
purposes of grammar and language as subjects of 
study are not identical, and no worse mistake can be 
made than to suppose them to be so. 



CHAPTER XI. 
NATURE OF LANGUAGE LESSONS. 

The Problem. — Having satisfied ourselves that we 
are right in the view we have taken of the purpose, or 
aim, of language lessons, we are face to face with the 
question, What are the lessons to be which will fix 
with the children the habit of using good English in 
expressing their thought and feeling? And another 
phase of the problem is, What lessons are adapted to 
do this and at the same time be in harmony with the 
other three aims set up? 

We can not depend upon what has been done in 
the past for guidance here, for in no other subject in 
the school curriculum has the work been so chaotic 
and unsuccessful. In the teaching of no other sub- 
ject has more valuable time been wasted, and in no 
other subject has the work generally been more un- 
satisfactory to teachers themselves. 

We can not depend upon text-books for guidance, 
for there is little or no uniformity among them as -to 
what language lessons should be. Also, they have 
been tried and found wanting. 

Hoiv to Get Help on the Problem. — We can get help 
upon this problem in two ways. First, by studying 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 129 

the best educational thought on language lessons. 
Secondly, by depending upon the integrity of our 
own thought after studying the mind's natural way 
of learning language, together with the way one must 
use language throughout his life. This means that 
we get help by studying the learner himself. 

The MincVs Natural Way of Learning Language. — 
A little thought will show that the child gets his first 
words by imitation. There is a time in his life when 
he is hungry for words. He sees objects, attributes, 
and relations and asks for the terms which symbolize 
them, thereafter using the terms by imitation. He 
has ideas and thoughts but lacks the language forms 
to communicate them.- His consciousness of this 
need makes him receptive for words and sentences to 
satisfy it. 

It is usually said that the child learns language 
before he goes to school by imitation from his 
mother's tongue. This is true, but it is only half the 
truth. The whole truth is, he learns words for a 
time by imitation, but he soon begins to use them in 
combination by inference rather than by imitation. 
The child is inventive, and manifests it in the ex- 
pressions he uses. The English language is often in- 
consistent, and since it is so, the child makes errors 
because his inferences are too consistent for the lan- 
guage. A little four-year-old said, "Look out, the 
cow will hook you, for I see her hooks." Again, a 
little one three years old said, "I want to go out in 



130 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

the shade and hammock." She had heard the word 
swing used both as a noun and as a verb. She had 
heard the word hammock used as a noun, and inferred 
it could be used as a verb. A little boy was taught 
that a man or boy who does the right thing at the 
right time is a hero. When asked what a woman or 
girl should be called who does the right thing at the 
right time, he promptly said, "I think she is a shero. " 
One does not have to watch children in the use of 
language very long to get sufficient evidence of the 
fact that they are inventive ; that is, that they make 
new combinations, by inference, of the words learned 
first by imitation. 

This little study shows that the child naturally 
learns language by: 1. Getting thought and feeling, 
which is aroused by the world of objects, attributes, 
and relations. 2. Communicating this thought and 
feeling in language forms. 3. Depending upon his 
associates for the correct form. 

And this study further suggests that, if the 
teacher in teaching follows the child's natural way of 
learning language, he will, in short, first, develop 
thought and feeling ; secondly, stimulate to the expres- 
sion of this thought and feeling; and thirdly, supply the 
correct language forms ivhen they are lacking. 

The Language Period. — Students of children are 
now bringing the fact that there is truly a language 
period in the child's life before teachers and parents 
in such a way that there is a growing appreciation of 



mp:thod in language and grammar. 131 

this truth. This language period is, on the average, 
the period between the ages of one and thirteen. 
And if this period is permitted to pass by without the 
child's having acquired the habit of using fair 
English, the probability is that he either never will do 
so, or will do so with much difficulty and at great 
cost. 

The following from Taylor's "The Study of the 
Child " is suggestive on this point : "Children seldom 
lack for words to express their ideas. This is par- 
ticularly true of children from three to twelve years 
of age. The confusion and hesitancy of the youth is 
not generally found earlier in life. Children either 
tell what they know or frankly say they do not know. 
They may often be wrong in what they say, but if 
they think they know a thing, they usually have a 
word for it. If these things be true, the cultivation 
of the child's language in these earlier years — years 
in which we have been exalting sense-perception — 
needs to be given greater prominence than now ac- 
corded it." 

"Grammar is too often taught as a means of help- 
ing a child correct his language, whereas proper 
guidance in these years when he was learning lan- 
guage as naturally as he was learning to walk, would 
have made all such work unnecessary. " 

This is the period predominant of brain growth 
as a whole, and also of the development of the nervous 
centers situated in the third convolution of the left 



132 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

frontal lobe of the brain, which control speech. 
During this period these nervous centers are taking 
on their organized modes of action. And in this 
period they, due to their unstable condition because 
of growth and development are easily organized into 
any desired modes of activity. Once this period 
passed, and the growth completed, the centers be- 
come stable, and the opportunity for the most effect- 
ive language teaching is forever gone. 

"A well-trained nervous system is the greatest 
friend that the mind can have. An ill-trained nervous 
system is a relentless enemy to the higher mental 
powers. It follows its victims and thwarts their aims 
until the pitying grave stops it. The writer can 
never forget the despair of a man who had become 
wealthy and who wished to go into educated society. 
Early associations had trained his motor mechanism 
of speech to say: 'He done wrong. I laid down. 
They set down and rested. I could have went. ' He 
procured teachers to instruct him in the right forms, 
and he finally learned them so that he could write 
them out correctly after a little study. But, alas ! he 
could not talk with his pen or his fingers. The brain 
cells governing the vocal muscles worked automat- 
ically, as they had been early habituated. This 
automatic working was followed, but not preceded, 
by consciousness. Not until after the words had 
escaped him would he know that they were wrong. 
The brain cells in his third left frontal convolution, 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 138 

with the vocal habituation due to them, were an 
enemy watchful and relentless." 

Conditions under Which Language Is Used.— Be- 
fore children go to school they use language when 
they have thoughts and feelings which they desire to 
express. And they naturally do not use it at any 
other time. And when they are using language the 
mind's energy is focused on the thing about which 
they are thinking, and not upon the language. And 
this is a point of knowledge worthy of attention, be- 
cause of the guidance it will give in language teach- 
ing. 

Illustration.— As I am writing a hyacinth just 
bursting into bloom is on the table at the left, and a 
child four years old is admiring it. She is chatter- 
ing about "how pretty, how fragrant and how nice" 
it is. Her mind is wholly absorbed with the object 
about which she is thinking and talking. 

And this is perfectly natural. It is the way 
language is always naturally used. The child thus 
naturally learns language with his mind's emphasis 
of attention on the object about which he is thinking 
and talking. 

Is this the way language is to be used through- 
out life? Will the one who uses the language have 
his mind's energy largely employed in the thinking 
he is doing, when he is using language under natural 
conditions? The answer is, that he certainly will. 



134 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

Correlation of School Work with Living. — It is 
often stated as an educational principle that the 
school life of the child should correlate with his life 
after leaving school. This means that any work 
learned in school must be carried on in the same 
manner in school as it will be carried on in life by the 
learner. For instance, the student should learn to 
write in school as he will be called upon to write after 
leaving school. Or he should learn to read, or spell 
as he will be required to read or spell after leaving 
school. This is a true educational principle, for only 
thus can school work best prepare one for living — the 
aim of all work in school. 

This is substantially the same principle as say- 
ing one learns to do by doing, and learns to do a thing 
by doing it, and not by doing something else. For 
instance, the way to learn to ride a bicycle, to learn 
to skate, or to learn to play a piano is by doing these 
very things, and by doing them in the same manner 
as one desires to do them later. 

Application of These Principles to Language Les- 
sons. — Having learned that the child uses language 
before he goes to school with his attention engrossed 
with the thing he is thinking about, and that he will 
use language in the same way all throughout his life, 
we can plainly see that his language lessons, if they 
are to correlate with his life work, must be carried 
on in the same way. That is to say, the language 
lesson should be of such a character that the learner 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 135 

will be acquiring the habit of using good language 
with his mind's energy focused on the thing he is 
thinking about, and not with his attention on the 
language. 

This principle has generally been violated in 
language teaching every-where. And because of a 
failure to grasp this truth and appreciate its im- 
portance in language teaching, much poor and fruit- 
less work has been done. Children, in so far as they 
have studied language and have mastered it, have 
usually done so by dealing with the language directly 
with their attention on the language — a way they 
never naturally use it in life. This is the very way 
most of us have mastered language, in so far as we 
have mastered it at all. As a result of this those of 
us who know what good English is, can use good 
enough English so long as our minds are centered on 
the language, but as soon as we have to use language 
under a tension of thought and feeling which takes 
the mind's energy away from the language, we make 
errors in our English. This is just what could be 
reasonably expected, because we are called upon to 
use language under a different set of circumstances 
from those under which we studied it. 

This is the chief reason why many of us who are 
not careless and who would really like habitually to 
use pure and elegant English make blunders in 
speaking and writing, when we know better. And 
this is also the main reason why we mispronounce 



136 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

words in speaking or reading, and misspell words in 
writing whose pronunciation and correct spelling we 
know. 

Illustration. — A friend who teaches grammar and 
who knows well what good English is, but who has 
mastered his English in this unnatural way — by- 
studying it with his attention on the language — when 
he is speaking under the tension of thought and feel- 
ing will make as many as five or more errors per 
minute. If he were called upon to use the same 
sentences in such a way that he could keep his atten- 
tion upon the language, he would not make a single 
error. This is a common observation as well as a 
common experience. 

Principles of Language Lessons. — From the study 
so far, we are able to deduce some principles which 
will guide us in our teaching. The following are the 
most evident : 

1. In language, as in the pursuit of any art, the 
pupil learns to do by doing. 

2. The pupil will best acquire the habit of using 
good language by dealing with the language with his 
mind engrossed with the object of thought, and not 
with his attention on the language. 

3. The learner desires to use language only when 
he has thought and feeling to communicate. 

4. Language as a subject is to be taught and 
emphasized in the language period, since it is pecul- 
iarly adapted to this stage of the child's development. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 137 

5. The child naturally learns language forms by 
imitation, and afterward uses them by imitation and 
inference. 

The Subject-matter of Language. — Language as a 
subject deals with discourse as its language unit. It 
aims at the correct use of words, and sentences, it is 
true, but not in their isolation. Language aims at 
the correct connection of sentences as well as cor- 
rectness, elegance, clearness, and energy in the sen- 
tence. While language deals with words and sen- 
tences, it only deals with them as parts of the larger 
whole discourse. Reading, literature, and rhetoric as 
a science, also deal with discourse as their language 
unit, but discourse as a finished product. Language 
and composition as subjects deal with discourse, and 
with discourse in the process of making. The follow- 
ing is a statement for the subject-matter of language: 
The subject-matter of language is discourse in the proc- 
ess of construction as a medium, for communicating 
thought and feeling, and considered as to its correctness, 
clearness, elegance and energy. 

Oral and Written Discourse. — Language deals with 
both oral and written discourse. The learner will be 
called upon during his -life to communicate his 
thought and feeling in both oral and written form; 
and since the language lesson is to prepare him for 
living, he must become skillful in both kinds of com- 
munication. In the lower grades the oral communi- 
cation is to predominate, and in the more advanced 



138 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE, 

phase of the language work they should balance each 
other pretty well. It is a mistake to make the ad- 
vanced phases of language lessons almost wholly 
written, or even predominantly written. 

Description, Narration, Exposition and Argument. 
—Keeping in mind that the learner is to be prepared 
for communicating in good English his thought and 
feeling throughout his life, and that he will do this in 
discourse, we see the necessity of studying further 
into the nature of discourse. A little further study 
shows us that there are classes of discourse depend- 
ing upon the nature of the thought to be expressed, 
and that the learner in expressing his thought and 
feeling will use these various classes of discourse. 
These classes are description, narration, exposition and 
argument. 

Description. — The mind will be called upon to deal 
with particular objects, and to express its ideas and 
thoughts appropriate to these objects at various times 
in life. The object can be dealt with as it is at any 
fixed time by setting forth its co-existing attributes 
and parts. Discourse which is the communicating 
medium for setting forth the co-existent attributes 
and parts of a particular object is description. Thus 
description deals with an object as to its statical at- 
tributes and parts. An object is viewed as it is at 
any time and the mind embodies its knowledge of the 
object in discourse, and this discourse is description. 

Illustration. — Before the writer on the writing 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 139 

table sits a hyacinth in full bloom giving off its fra- 
grance from a large spike of most beautiful violet 
flowers. If the attributes of the hyacinth as a whole 
were given, the parts named, and the attributes of 
them given just as the hyacinth is at the present time, 
the production would be description. The hyacinth 
is a particular object, and it would be dealt with as to 
its co-existing attributes and parts. 

Narration. — Again, a particular object may be 
dealt with by setting forth its attributes and parts as 
changing. Discourse which is the communicating 
medium for setting forth the changing attributes and 
parts of a particular object is narration. Description 
deals with a particular object as to its statical rela- 
tions, but narration deals with a particular object as 
to its dynamic relations. Change is the thing empha- 
sized in narration. 

Illustration. — If the hyacinth had been noticed 
from day to day and the change carefully recorded as 
it grew, with a discussion of its general appearance 
from time to time, the record of this when put in a 
readable form would have been narration. The 
changing attributes and parts of the particular ob- 
ject would have been thus set forth. The discourse 
which treats of life histories of animals and plants is 
narration. The records of incidents, and biographies 
are narrations. They are narrations because they 
treat of particular objects as to change. 

Exposition. — Discourse that sets forth a general 



140 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

idea, or general notion, is exposition. The mind 
thinks the common attributes of a class, the sub- 
classes of the class with their common attributes and 
embodies its thoughts in exposition. If the adjective 
were chosen as a subject and discussed as to what it 
is, its classes, their definitions, inflections, etc., the 
discussion would be exposition. Any general idea as 
tree, horse, light, electricity, case, mode, or honesty 
worked out by the mind and embodied in discourse is 
exposition. 

Argument. — Argument is discourse in which is 
set forth the application of general accepted truth to 
particular facts and cases. Argument is the applica- 
tion of the general idea to particular cases. Thus in- 
dividuals to argue must agree on some fundamental 
truths or what promised to be an argument will end 
merely in dispute. 'Argumentation is the applica- 
tion of the general notion to concrete reality and life. ' 
Thus the argument on the question, What constitutes 
a successful life ? would consist in the application of 
accepted laws to particular facts of life. 

It has not been the intention in these studies to 
discuss at any great length these four classes of dis- 
course. The thing to be seen is that, in using lan- 
guage throughout life, the child will have occasion 
to use these four kinds of discourse, and should be 
prepared to use them skillfully and readily. Thus 
the teacher should understand the process of con- 
struction of these four kinds of discourse. And he 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 141 

who does understand these will do better language 
teaching than he who does not, other things equal. 

In the primary language work the exercises will 
in the main be in description and narration. These 
two kinds of discourse construction are well adapted 
to the mental development of children in the language 
period. But exposition and argumentation are forms 
of discourse construction very poorly adapted to this 
period. Thus the laws of the mind and the laws of 
discourse construction show us that the main lines of 
work in language lessons are to be description and 
narration. 

Bad work in language teaching has been done 
because of a failure on the part of teachers to appre- 
ciate this truth. Students have been asked to pro- 
duce expositions and arguments when the work was 
entirely above their ability. To ask a student to 
write on "Industry," "Courage," "Patience," 
"Character," etc., is to ask the student to produce 
an exposition. Such work kills interest, and stifles 
endeavor, and gives students an antipathy for the 
study of language. 

Relation of Langitage to Other Subjects. — There 
are some views more or less generally held concern- 
ing the relation of language lessons to other subjects 
in the school curriculum which are the source of poor 
work in teaching this subject. These views are as 
follows : 1. It is held that there is no such subject 
as primary language distinct from other subjects. 



142 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

2. It is held that what is called primary language is a 
phase of simple grammar work. 3. It is held that 
language lessons should not constitute a regular line 
of work, but that these lessons should be done inci- 
dentally in connection with other work. 

Is Primary Language a Subject P — To study this 
subject systematically we need to see how one sub- 
ject may be like other subjects and different from 
them. And we find that their likeness and difference 
appear in three things. 1. They may deal with the 
same or different facts. 2. They may deal with these 
facts in the same or in different ways. 3. They may 
have the same or different aims. 

Now, there are only two subjects in the primary 
school course enough like primary language to need 
study. All subjects except grammar and composi- 
tion are evidently different from primary language. 
To grammar and composition language lessons are 
closely related. Grammar is different from language 
lessons in that (1) grammar deals with the sentence 
as its language unit, while language lessons deal with 
discourse as the language unit; (2) grammar deals 
with the sentence as a finished product, in its science 
phase, but with the sentence as an unfinished pro- 
duct, in the art phase, and in both cases with the 
mind's energy upon the sentence, while language 
lessons deal with discourse as an unfinished product 
with the mind's energy on the object of thought in- 
stead of on the language; (3) the main purpose of 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 143 

grammar is mental discipline, while the main pur- 
pose, or aim, of language lessons is to fix with the 
learner the habit of communicating his thought and feel- 
ing in clear, correct, elegant and energetic English. It 
thus appears that language is not identical with 
grammar in any of the three points in which subjects 
may be alike and different. 

Composition and primary language are indeed 
very much alike. They both deal with discourse in 
the process of making ; they have the same purpose 
in the main ; but they do not deal with discourse in 
exactly the same way. Language is a more element- 
ary subject than composition, and forms a basis and 
paves the way for composition work. Composition 
emphasizes the written medium of communication 
while primary language emphasizes the oral medium 
of communication. 

Primary language is thus entitled to be called a 
separate subject of the school curriculum. Every 
teacher should differentiate this subject in his 
thought from the other subjects of the school course. 
A failure to do this in teaching leads to confusion and 
a lack of definiteness. It further leads to the at- 
tempt to do the work incidentally. And one does not 
have to observe very long to be convinced that doing 
work incidentally means slighting the work. Inci- 
dental work is usually not worth much. 

Primary language should hold a clear, definite, 
and dignified position in the teacher's thought to the 



144 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

end that the work may be done conscientiously and 
well. 

Conclusions concerning the Nature of Language 
Lessons. — Prom all this study we reach the following 
conclusions : 

1. Anything which is worth learning may be used 
as an object of study in language lessons. 

2. The learner studies the object of thought in 
order to develop thought and feeling. 

3. He communicates this thought and feeling in 
both oral and written discourse, mainly description 
and narration, with his emphasis of attention on what 
he is thinking of. 

4. His language is constantly to be under friendly 
and helpful criticism. 



CHAPTER XII. 

METHOD OF PROCEDURE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING. 

General Procedure. — Every language lesson is like 
every other in that the following three steps must be 
taken : 

1. The development of thought and feeling. 

2. Stimulating to the communication of this 
thought and feeling. 

3. Supplying the correct form when the com- 
municating medium is lacking in any way. 

These steps are all important in language teach- 
ing and are worthy of study. So it will pay us to 
study each one to some extent. 

The Development of Thought and Feeling. — This is 
the first step in all language teaching, and it is of the 
highest importance. Without thought and feeling to 
be communicated the learner would have no need for a 
communicating medium — the language. Language — 
words, sentences and discourse — came into existence 
to communicate thought and feeling. So, according 
to the way language originated and according to the 
way the learner naturally uses language, the first 
step in language teaching is to help the learner to get 



146 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

in mind something worth communicating and some- 
thing he will want to communicate. 

Importance of the Step. — As evident as it seems 
that this must be the first thing to do, and as evident 
as its importance is, this step has not only not been 
well done, but the importance of it has not been 
generally appreciated by teachers of language les- 
sons. In fact this is the very rock on which many 
teachers have been shipwrecked in their careers as 
teachers in language. And the trouble comes about 
in this way : the teacher keeping his eye fixed upon 
the fact that he wants to get the learner to use lan- 
guage, loses sight of the fact that the learner not only 
does not desire to use language when he has no 
thought and feeling to communicate, but absolutely 
can not use coherent language. The teacher gives 
subject after subject to the child and insists that he 
must say something either orally or in writing upon 
them. The child knows comparatively nothing to 
say and has no feeling to communicate, except, per- 
haps, one of helplessness, and so produces nothing 
worth while in the way of discourse. The teacher 
still urges the learner to say more, and he gets to dis- 
liking the work, and slights it; the teacher puts on 
more pressure ; the learner despises the work, and 
the whole thing is worse than a failure. Many of us 
have seen just this thing in language and composition 
lessons. 

Again, it comes about this way: the teacher 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 147 

seems to think that "muchness" of the discourse 
produced is to be the criterion of success, so demands 
so much written or oral discourse that the learner 
can not have time for the development of thought and 
feeling. The results are the same as in the other 
case. 

Mutual Cause and Effect. — It must not be lost 
sight of that there is no good, clear speaking and 
writing without good, clear thinking. The cause of 
incoherent discourse is most usually to be found in 
the incoherent thinking the discourse expresses. 
Bad language and bad thinking are to each other 
mutual cause and effect. If the thinking be unorgan- 
ized, inaccurate, and unsystematic, the language, 
which is the formal expression of this thought, par- 
takes naturally of these characteristics. On the 
other hand, if one has a poor command of language, 
so much of his mind's energy will be required in 
getting the proper language forms that the thought 
will suffer because of not having the mind's full 
power upon it. 

It can not be too thoroughly appreciated and too 
strongly felt by teachers of primary language that 
the first thing to do in all language teaching is to 
direct the learner in thinking in order that he may 
have thought and feeling in mind to express. 

Objects of Study. — In the selection of objects for 
study in language lessons two important truths 
should guide. 1. The thing studied should be well 



148 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

adapted to the mind of the learner; that is, it should 
not be too hard or too easy, and it must possess in- 
herent interest. 2. The object of study must be of 
such a character that it will be worth studying ; that 
is, the knowledge got by such study must be valuable 
for guidance in living. 

The first one of these truths is so evident that it 
needs no further study. If the language lesson is to 
possess life, vivacity and interest, the object of study 
must be one which the learner will like to study. 
And no language lesson can be much of a success 
which is not vigorous and interesting. 

The second one of these truths, though, needs 
further study in order that an error held to some ex- 
tent may be corrected, and in order that the truth 
may be made emphatic. It has been said again and 
again that the first object is to get the children to 
talk, that it does not matter whether they talk about 
anything worth while or not, just so they talk. And 
in pursuance of this idea pictures, foolish stories, 
etc., have been given to children to talk about and to 
write about in their language lessons. This is an 
error in teaching language, because there is an 
abundance of things which may be studied and which 
are worth studying that may be used as a basis for 
the very best language lessons. The world is so full 
of interesting and valuable things to learn that there 
is no excuse for studying anything for a mere mental 
gymnastic. We do not want to teach the child to talk 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 149 

for the mere sake of talking. The world is already 
too full of people who talk without saying anything. 

In pursuance of the idea of studying some object 
worth studying as a basis for language work, lessons 
may be made to correlate with : 

1. Nature study lessons. 

2. Concrete geography lessons. 

3. Reading lessons. 

4. Primary history lessons. 

5. Primary literature lessons. 

6. Lessons in form. 

7. Biography. 

It is to be noted that in making any of these lines 
of work a basis for developing thought and feeling, 
the material of study is valuable in itself. This is a 
point in language lessons that should not be over- 
looked. 

Stimulating to the Communication of Thought and 
Feeling .—The question, Why have so many students 
disliked their language work, and their composition 
work? is a pertinent one. It is the experience of 
teachers in a great many places that a majority of 
students dislike the language and composition work. 
It can not be because students dislike to talk and 
write, for the human being has a natural impulse 
which urges him to communicate his thought and 
feeling. That is to say, he has the instinct of ex- 
pression. Thus communication is natural, when the 
mind has thought and feeling to communicate. But 



150 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

again it is unnatural to try to use language when 
there is nothing in the mind surging for expression. 
And the things which have made the language and 
composition disagreeable to the students have been, — 
1. A failure on the part of teachers sufficiently to lead 
the students to develop thought and feeling. 2. A 
failure on the part of teachers to make the study of 
something interesting and valuable the basis of the 
language lesson. It may be asserted safely that, if 
students are led by the teacher to study something 
interesting until it is well known, it will not be disa- 
greeable to them to express their thoughts either 
orally or in writing. For such work to be disagree- 
able would be unnatural. It is natural, and, there- 
fore, agreeable to communicate our thoughts. 

Supplying the Correct Form When the Communicat- 
ing Medium Is Lacking in Any Way. — This third step 
in all language teaching is one of much importance, 
and is worthy of careful study. It shows something 
of the importance of this step to see that this is the 
distinctively language- learning step in all teaching 
and in all life. The little child who is learning to talk 
depends upon father, mother, brother, sister, and 
companions for the language forms to express his 
ideas. These they give him, and this act of giving 
constitutes real, genuine language teaching. 

In a sense, every lesson in school must be made 
a language lesson. That is to say, in any lesson in 
school work bad language must not be passed by 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 151 

without correction. The use of good language is to 
be made a habit as nearly as it can be. But if the 
child is held to the use of good language only during 
the period of daily recitation in language, some 
twenty or twenty-five minutes in length, and is per- 
mitted to use indifferent or bad English during the 
remainder of the day at school and at home, as is the 
custom in most cases, he will never acquire the habit 
of using good English. The ability or tendency 
gained during the recitation in language, under those 
circumstances, will be constantly antagonized and 
overcome by the counter-tendency established during 
the time he is not in recitation. This very thing is 
what makes successful language teaching such a 
difficult task. 

If the child could always hear pure language both 
in school and out of school, language teaching would 
be much less difficult. Some have even thought that 
under those circumstances the child would always 
use pure English, and there would be no need for 
language lessons. This probably would not be the 
case, though. The child's always hearing pure 
English would not be a guarantee of his always using 
pure English. Children make logical mistakes in 
language. For instance, a little four-year-old having 
heard his parents say, "We aren't going," said, I 
amn't going." Again, while the language lessons 
must be predominantly oral for at least the first four 
years of the child's school life, he must also be taught 



152 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

to communicate his thought and feeling by means of 
a written medium. In this work many, indeed most, 
of the mistakes are of a negative character — sins of 
omission rather than of commission. So, however 
pure the English the child is accustomed to hear, 
these logical errors in oral language, and the errors 
in written language, will remain to be corrected. 

The view that every lesson should be made a lan- 
guage lesson, in this sense, has been criticized on the 
ground that every subject is thus subordinated to 
language. The point is not well taken, because it is a 
legitimate part of the teaching in every subject to 
teach the pupil to communicate his knowledge of that 
subject, and to do so in good language. And the very 
demand for good language facilitates clearer thinking 
on the subject. 

Corrections. — Since so much of the teacher's work 
in teaching language lessons consists in making cor- 
rections and supplying correct forms, the study of 
primary language teaching would be incomplete 
without a consideration of the when, where and how of 
corrections. 

The language lessons in the lower grades are to 
be largely oral, so the corrections will be those of the 
child's oral language. Some have held that the cor- 
rection of an error should not be made immediately 
after the error, because it would embarrass the child 
and break up his continuity of thought. Experience 
teaches, however, that if the correction is made in the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 153 

right spirit, and if the child understands it so, the 
continuity of thought will not be broken up to any 
appreciable degree. If Mary should say, "I swang 
high," and the teacher should cry out, "Stop, Mary! 
have you not learned that is incorrect?" of course the 
continuity of thought would be broken up. But if, 
when Mary makes the error, the teacher gently says 
"swung" or "I swung high," Mary repeats, using 
the correct form, and goes on with the recitation. It 
is best to make the correction as nearly as possible 
immediately after the error for the following two 
reasons : 1. The correction is more effective. 2. It 
is the only practical way of holding the learner con- 
stantly to good language, for any postponement tends 
to looseness of criticism. If there is the right under- 
standing between teacher and learner, no anxiety 
need be felt on the score of embarrassing and dis- 
couraging the children, and thus breaking up their 
continuity of thought. 

In the written work some time must necessarily 
elapse between the errors and the criticisms. The 
criticisms in the written work should be conscien- 
tiously and well made, however. They must be made 
in such a way that the children's attention will surely 
be called to them. It is a good plan to call for a 
second writing of the production, with a view to im- 
provement in the language. This will call attention 
to all criticisms. To criticise in a helpful way is an 



154 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

art. Teachers often fail in their language and com- 
position work because of their weakness in criticism. 
Points to Be Kept in Mind. — Our study so far may 
be summarized in the following points, which should 
be kept in mind in language teaching : 

1. The main distinctive aim of language lessons 
is to lead the learner to form the habit of using cor- 
rect, clear, elegant and energetic English in communi- 
cating his thought and feeling. 

2. A secondary distinctive aim of language les- 
sons is to give the learner a basis for grammar work 
to be done later. 

3. Language lessons in common with other sub- 
jects have it as their aim to give the learner knowl- 
edge valuable for guidance in right living. 

4. Language lessons in common with other sub- 
jects also have it as their aim to furnish the learner 
mental discipline to the end of systematic, clear, 
ready thinking. 

5. Language teaching should be in harmony with 
these principles deduced from the mind's natural 
way of learning language and of using language : 

1 1 . The language lessons must correlate with 
the learner's life. 

2 1 . The learner best acquires a mastery of 
language by dealing with it with his mind focused, in 
so far as possible, on the object of thought. 

3 ' . There is a language period in the learner 's 
life in which he learns language as readily as he 



METHOD IN LANGUAGE AND GRAMMAR. 155 

learns to walk. This period is, in general, between 
the ages of one and thirteen. If the learner does 
not acquire, to a considerable extent, the use of good 
language in this period, he either never will do so or 
will do so at great cost and with much difficulty. 

6. Eternal vigilance in kindly correcting the 
learner's language is the price of good language 
habits. 

7. In general in all language teaching the steps 
are as follows : 

1 1 . Developing thought and feeling. 
2 1 . Stimulating to the communication of this 
thought and feeling. 

3 1 . Correcting kindly and sympathetically 
all errors. 

Concrete Illustrations. — Under this head we will 
study some illustrations of what language lessons 
should be, in the light of our previous study. 

The Blue Violet. — This lesson is adapted to 
children of the second or third year, and correlates 
with nature work. The time of the year is near the 
beginning of the spring term of school — the last of 
March or the first of April. The lesson is entirely 
oral. 

These questions by the teacher are to bring out 
the discussion concerning the life of the blue violet. 
The children have been told to watch for the coming 
of violets. 

What kind of home has little violet ? Does it live 



156 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

in dry ground or in wet ground? Is its home in the 
sunshine or in the shade? Does it live in the woods 
or in the field? Does it live in any other places? 

How did you know where to look for violets? 
Were they there all winter? Could you see them in 
the winter? Why could you not? Did Jack Frost 
kill all of the plant ? Why could he not kill the root? 
How could the soil, leaves, and snow keep the frost 
from killing the little violet? 

What part of the violet did you see first this 
spring? Why should the leaves come up first? 

The teacher here tells the children that the leaves 
protect the flowers. They stand up around the 
flowers like a row of little soldiers. They are, also, 
the kitchen where the food is prepared for the whole 
plant, flowers and all. 

Where does the little violet get its food? How do 
the roots get it from the ground ? Do the little roots 
have mouths? Can you see the mouths of these I 
have in my hand? 

The teacher here should show how the roots eat 
by showing how they could take up salt, soda, or 
sugar dissolved in water. 

How does this food reach the leaves ? How could 
it be drawn up by the stem and leaves ? What do the 
stem and leaves draw it up for? 

What must be done with food in the kitchen be- 
fore it is good to eat? Where do the leaves get heat 
to cook the food which they have drawn up from the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 157 

roots ? Could the little leaves get along without the 
sun? Why could they not? 

When your mother cooks, what do you see rise 
from the cooking food? What makes the steam rise? 

Here the teacher should explain to the children 
how steam rises from the leaves when they are pre- 
paring food. This may be done by putting a plant 
under an inverted glass tumbler, and by showing the 
children the moisture which collects. 

How did the moisture get out of the leaves? Can 
you see the little windows ? 

The teacher here tells the pupils that air goes 
through these tiny windows and mixes with the food 
before it is good to eat. 

While the roots and leaves were working away, 
what was the little iiower doing? How does it look 
when you first see it? What happens to the little 
green cloak before you can see Violet's blue dress? 
How does Violet unfold her dress? Is her dress 
wrinkled? What has become of the green cloak? 

Do all violets have dresses of the same color ? 
What colored dresses have you seen violets have? 
How many pieces has Violet's dress? Would you like 
to know what name the pieces have? Can you re- 
member that they are called petals ? See if the petals 
are all the same size and shape. Who can find a 
pocket in one? What is in the pocket? Honey? It 
is called nectar. What do you think the nectar is 



158 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

there for ? Can you think of anything that would like 
to eat it ? Bees ? 

At this place the teacher should explain that the 
bees come to the violet to get the nectar, and that the 
bee thrusts its long mouth down into the pocket of 
the petal in doing so. In doing this he gets flower 
dust (pollen) on his head and long mouth. This 
pollen is to feed the tiny seeds so they will grow. 
The home of the seeds is to be examined and the proc- 
ess by which the pollen comes in contact with them. 
This can and must all be shown with the flowers in 
the hands of the children. 

Enough has been already suggested for several 
lessons for second year pupils, but this work should 
be carried on entirely through the life history of the 
violet. 

The questions only are given, but the inference is 
easily made as to the nature of the work on the 
children's part. They engage in a free, open, interest- 
ing and spirited talk. 

It is to be noted that this lesson is adapted to (1) 
develop thought and feeling ; (2) induce to the com- 
munication of this thought and feeling; (3) furnish 
opportunities to quietly and kindly give the correct 
forms in language, since the children in such interest- 
ing discussions make many errors. 

Again, this lesson is in harmony with the prin- 
ciples of language lessons laid down in previous 
study; namely, the lesson correlates with the 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 159 

learner's use of language in life, and he is also deal- 
ing with the language with his mind engrossed with 
the object of thought. 

And lastly, it is to be noted that the above lesson 
is in pursuance of the purpose of language to this ex- 
tent : the child is learning to use good English just in 
the way he will use it all his life, to the end that he 
may fix the habit of communicating his thought and 
feeling in correct, clear, elegant, and forcible English. 
And this is the primary distinctive aim of language 
lessons. This lesson is also in harmony with the two 
aims which language lessons have in common with 
every other school subject; (1) good exercise in system- 
atic thinking to the end that the learner may be- 
come a ready and accurate thinker — mental discipline; 
(2) the acquisition of knowledge valuable for guidance 
in right living. 

The lesson is oral throughout and so does not aim 
at correct habits in written communication. Neither 
does it aim distinctively at laying a basis for the pur- 
suit of other language subjects. 

Indian Corn.— This lesson on corn is adapted to 
fifth or sixth year pupils, and is to be taught near the 
beginning of the fall term of school. The corn plant 
is before the' children for examination, and in re- 
sponse to the teacher's questions the students give 
the following answers, which the teacher writes on 
the board. 

On the plant as a whole: 



160 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

1. This corn stalk looks like a big stalk of grass. 

2. It is six and one-half feet high. 

3. There is a central axis from one and one-half 
inches to less than a half inch in diameter. 

4. It has a bushy-looking brush at the top 
which is called the tassel. 

5. This is called the stalk or culm. 

6. The roots are at the lower end of the culm. 

7. The tassel crowns the culm. 

8. The culm has streamer-like blades on oppo- 
site sides. 

9. This plant has eleven leaves, or blades. 

10. The whole plant is green, tinged with yellow 
in places. 

11. This plant has two ears, one on each side 
the culm. 

12. Silk-like hairs stream out from the end of 
the ears. 

13. The silk-like hairs and the tassel are the 
flowers of the plant. 

14. The parts of this corn plant are the culm, 
the roots, the tassel, the leaves, the flowers, and the 
fruit. 

On the Culm : 

1. The culm is about six feet long. 

2. The culm is largest at the bottom and gradu- 
ally grows smaller toward the top. 

3. The culm stands upright. 

4. It is the supporting part of the plant. 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 161 

5. The culm is nearly cylindrical in form. 

6. At distances of from five to seven inches on 
the culm there are nodes. 

7. The nodes are denser parts and thicker 
parts of the culm. 

8. The culm is pithy within. 

9. There is a thin woody layer around the pithy 
inside. This woody layer is very dense and hard. 
It gives strength and firmness to the culm. 

10. The parts of the culm between the nodes 
are called inter nodes. 

11. The internodes have semicircular grooves, 
one for each node. 

12. The grooves are on alternate sides of the 
internodes. 

On the Roots : 

1. They are cylindrical in form. 

2. They are of two kinds, — fibrous and coarse. 

3. They grow out from the nodes. 

4. They are arranged in circles around the 
bottom of the culm. 

5. They have two uses ; one is to take food from 
the soil ; the other is to anchor the plant. 

6. The roots of the highest circle are large, 
strong, and form bench-like braces to hold the plant 
upright. 

7. There are twelve in the upper circle. 

8. The circles below do not have so many. 

9. There are five distinct circles on this plant. 



162 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

10. They are almost white. 

Enough has been given to indicate the nature of 
this work. But in the actual language work the corn 
plant should be worked entirely through this way. 
As much should be done each day as the time of the 
recitation will allow. The teacher writes the sen- 
tences on the blackboard as the students give them. 
Then the students copy them neatly in note books. 
After the plant is entirely gone through with in this 
way, the students are shown that what they have on 
(1) the plant as a whole; (2) on the culm; (3) on the 
roots; etc., is not in a form to read well. They then 
are asked to put it in a form so it will read nicely and 
smoothly. One of the points, as culm, is usually 
enough for one lesson. The work as the children 
have it is read in the class, carefully corrected by the 
teacher and returned to the students. This corrected 
work is kept by the students. After having gone 
through the points thus, the students are asked to 
write out the whole, noting carefully the corrections 
previously made on each part. 

It is evident that this work is the essence of 
composition; that is, it is composing. The trouble- 
some question of paragraphing thus becomes easy, 
for the work naturally falls into seven parts and thus" 
seven paragraphs: (1) the plant as a whole; (2) the 
culm ; (3) the roots ; (4) the tassel ; (5) the leaves ; (6) 
the flower ; (7) the fruit. 

This lesson is a description, for it deals with a 



METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 163 

particular object as to its co-existent attributes and 
parts. This lesson is in harmony with all the pur- 
poses and principles of language lessons previously 
studied. Lessons of this kind have been tried with 
the best of success. 

Thus, lessons of this kind have both theory and 
experience in support of them. There are no better 
language lessons possible. 

This line of work indicated on the corn plant is 
both oral and written, the written predominating. 
Enough work is suggested here for sixteen or more 
lessons. Other objects easy of similar study are the 
flax plant, the cotton plant, the potato plant, the bean 
plant, etc. 

Any of these subjects may be treated as to their 
changing attributes and parts thus making the dis- 
course narration. The life history of any one would 
be traced through in a narration. 

Common Errors in Teaching Language. — Language 
lessons offer opportunities for many errors in the 
actual teaching. The most common and most perni- 
cious are the following : 

1. Making language lessons a kind of primary 
grammar work. This kind of work is almost wholly 
useless and bad from the view-point of the main pur- 
pose of language as a subject. 

2. The teaching largely of principles in the light 
of which the learner is expected to use good language. 



164 METHOD IN GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE. 

This is unnatural and all the evils flow from it that 
accrue from the violation of nature's order. 

3. Not sufficiently developing thought and feeling 
before asking for communication. This always dis- 
courages students and gives them an antipathy for 
the work. 

4. A failure to exercise eternal vigilance in kind 
and sympathetic correction of the children's errors 
in language. 

5. A failure to select objects for study which are 
inherently interesting, and the study of which will 
give good habits of study and useful knowledge. 

Conclusion. — In conclusion it may be said that it 
is thought best not to work out any course of study 
for language lessons. If the teacher gets in mind 
the study so far on Method in Language he or she can 
make his or her own course of study without any re- 
strictions upon his or her individuality. 

The main object of this study is to bring out the 
way to proceed in rational language teaching. When 
teachers are correlating their language lessons with 
the nature study, history, geography, primary litera- 
ture, etc., and are proceeding in harmony with the 
principles of language lessons as studied here, they 
are doing the very best language work possible, and 
may thus proceed in their work with good con- 
sciences. 



